To Defy, to Comply
by HarleyD
Summary: Loki deserves the same chance as Thor, a chance to redeem himself. So he is sent to Earth just as Thor was, though when he arrives he does not find help, instead he ends up at the mercy of humans of a much darker nature. For months he suffers, wondering if this is how he is supposed to learn humility, only to be stumbled upon and "saved" by the very Avengers that should hate him.
1. Prologue

**Title: **To Defy, to Comply

**Rating**: T for now, eventually M.

**Summary:** Loki deserves the same chance as Thor, a chance to redeem himself. So he is sent to Earth just as Thor was, though when he arrives he does not find help, instead he ends up at the mercy of humans of a much darker nature. For months he suffers, wondering if this is how he is supposed to learn humility, only to be stumbled upon and "saved" by the very Avengers that should hate him.

**Warnings**: Mentions of rape, noncon, prostitution, violence in later chapters

**Pairing**: I think… FrostIron … not gonna lie, only time this has ever happened but when I started I didn't know if it was FrostIron, Thorki or Captain Mischief… but Loki seems to have chosen for himself.

**Author's Note**: I've tried to resist because I have so many stories I'm working on, but Loki is completely irresistible. It is a WIP but I know where it's going. And for the love of… it must be a Loki thing, I honestly have never had trouble making characters do what I want them too but… Loki will not stop being snarky no matter how broken he is and even in the most serious of situations – Tony's mind is on sex. It's ridiculous, but I'm working on them the best I can!

* * *

Days had been spent in a cell, and they hadn't even removed the muzzle and chains, leaving him uncomfortably curled in a corner. Thor came frequently, tried to talk to him, to tell him that their father was deliberating but he refused to look at him. Finally the doors opened and Thor came in, face troubled. "Father wishes to see you." He glared Thor off when he tried to help him up, but there was nothing he could do as the guards grabbed his arms and dragged him towards the main hall.

Loki refused to be led into the room, jerking his bound hands away from the guards holding him. They glanced to Thor, who nodded, and let him walk on his own towards the throne. He came to an unsteady stop a decent distance away from the throne, his legs refusing to bring him any farther.

It was impossible to not hear the whispers through the room, the jeers, and with the muzzle clamped over his face there was not much he could do to stop them. He whipped his head around, trying to glare down as many of them as he could, only raising the pitch of laughter in the room.

His frantic movements were abruptly stopped when Thor was just suddenly there in front of him, grabbing his jaw, twisting Loki to face him. Surprisingly the hold was gentle as Thor met his eyes. "Loki, be still."

Be still? _Be still?_ Did he not understand that Loki was standing here to face punishment? He had never had to face it for his deeds in the past, falling had saved him that disgrace even if it had brought so many more on him. How could he _be still_? His jaw ached with the desire to scream at the other man, to do anything, being silenced was _torture _for him. He tried to let every hateful feeling show in his eyes, making sure that Thor knew exactly what he thought of him.

The moron just continued to look at him, eyes big and sad, and Loki would have sneered if he could have. The sorrow couldn't be real, he was only a war criminal, dragged home so Thor could once again be showered in praise from his father and all of Asgard. Finally after too long Loki jerked his head away, eyes averted not in submission, he just couldn't stand the look in Thor's eyes a moment longer. He blinked rapidly, wishing his hands were free so he could swipe at his face, unsure if he would be able to hide the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Loki Odinson, you stand for judgment."

He had nearly forgotten Odin and shook himself out of the shock of hearing his name, he had not expected to come back and still be considered … Finally really paying attention he knelt before he thought about it, as he always would before the all father. A few sounds of approval drifted through the crowd and then Thor was at his side, kneeling before Odin as well. He glanced sideways at him, and never would he admit the difference it made that he wasn't kneeling there alone, a ridiculous urge to hold Thor's hand rose up, making the shackles clang when he realized he had moved his hand to do just that.

The guards lurched forward, unsure of what he planned on doing, but Thor's eyes were on the quite obvious, at least to him, movement. A glare sent them back to their places and he reached out, taking Loki's hand. He would give his brother the support he needed, even as Loki trained hateful eyes on him. Let his brother put up his defenses, it didn't change that Loki didn't let go of his hand.

He didn't look at Odin, his eyes going to his mother… yes, he would fight with Odin and Thor about if they were related but his mother… would always be his mother. She was giving him a sad smile, her eyes falling to where the two boys held hands, a small hope on her face. When she met his eyes he could see that she was crying, and that made him feel worse than anything Odin could say.

"You have caused deaths and destruction on a planet not capable of protecting itself, showing a blatant abuse of power."

He felt his eyebrows go up, a planet not capable of protecting itself? He recalled being defeated and literally beaten in to the floor. Seems they protected themselves just fine. Thor's hand tightened momentarily and he glanced at him, and for a brief moment he saw the exact same thought on his face. Under other circumstances it would have almost been enough to make him smile.

"You are not fit to be an heir to the crown, to be a member of the royal court."

Even though he was sure he would be disowned, at the very least, the words still ached and he looked to the ground. He couldn't change what was happening but he could at least keep them from knowing how badly it hurt.

"Your brother knows what it is to rule, and what it is to be unprepared. I will give you the same chance that I gave him. You will be stripped of your magic and your godhood, and sent to Midgard to learn humility, Loki."

Thor let out a sudden happy sound, surging to his feet, keeping ahold of Loki's hand so he was forced to awkwardly stumble to his feet as well. Loki protested, both being manhandled and the sentence, but all that came out was a muffled sound. He was being banished? He wasn't… Odin hadn't disowned him… and why the hell was Thor so happy?

He grabbed Loki's shoulders and shook him, smile splitting his face, "This is good news brother! You will go to Earth and you will learn, you will learn what a wonderful realm it is, and then you will come home!"

He knew his eyes were wide, wild. How ignorant could Thor be? Odin wanted to strip him of his powers and magic and send him back to the planet he had tried to take over? Knowing words were impossible he did his best to make a concerned sound, Thor had to understand how dangerous it would be for him on Earth.

Those blue eyes caught on faster than he would have thought and a hand wrapped around the back of his neck, entangling in his hair. His shoulders stiffened at the intimate gesture, he was not a child anymore and did not appreciate him taking the liberty. "Do not fear brother, you will be safe. When I landed I was taken care of, you will be too." He looked to the AllFather, "Father, may I remove the muzzle?"

To that Loki made a high pitch sound, yes, he would like that as well. Odin nodded, "Yes, of course, he deserves to speak in his defense." His eyes hardened the slightest bit, "Do not attempt to flee Loki, this is a fair sentence and the next will not be so forgiving."

He couldn't spare him a glance as he waited impatiently for Thor to remove it, unable to stop a small whimper from escaping when it was pulled off, lips dry and sore. Thor's large hand was at his face, sleeve wiping across his mouth, making him flush as he realized he must have been drooling. "Get off me!" His voice broke, he had been gagged so long that he couldn't sort through what he wanted to say first. He pulled away from Thor to face Odin, "You'll have me killed." He was going for angry, but his voice came out full of hurt, and Odin's face softened in response.

"No, I want you to _learn_ something Loki." He moved down from the throne and Loki tried to cringe back but Thor was there behind him, keeping him in place. Odin placed hands on both Loki's shoulders. "We love you Loki, but you have done horrible things and we want you to understand." He pulled away and nodded to Thor, "Say your goodbyes."

The crowd around them was silent, Loki didn't know if that meant they approved of the sentence or not. "Thor, brother, please…" He was more ashamed of the _brother_ than the _please_. He could tell the other they were not family… but the minute he was panicked he sought his older brother.

Thor was looking at Odin though, "Can I go with him?"

"No, he must learn this on his own."

Thor was troubled by the fear on Loki's face and again wrapped his hand around the back of his neck pulling him forward until Loki pliantly laid his head against his shoulder. "You will be fine brother, and I will come as soon as I am allowed." He pulled back to place a kiss on Loki's forehead, "Be safe Brother, and know you are loved."

Loki shook his head at that in silence, the muzzle was gone but he knew if he tried to say anything the tears he was fighting would win and he would not let the last image of him to be one of him humiliating himself with tears. He did not tell Thor he loved him as well and he would not look at his mother, only faced Odin and hunched his shoulders, waiting.

Odin nodded and recited the words that had sent Thor away once, "I now take from you your power, in the name of my father and his father before me, I, Odin Allfather, cast you out." The words were more subdued than they had been with Thor, spoken out of careful consideration instead of anger, but the results were the same.

Loki had a brief moment to see his brother and try to reach for him, barely time to make a frightened sound and then he was falling.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **In this story I'm going to go with what I honestly thought was going to happen in the movie – and that was that Coulson was seriously hurt but not killed – right up until the credits ran I thought that he was really going to be okay and it was just a ploy to get them motivated. But alas… anyways, in this story Coulson isn't dead… mostly because I can't think that Tony would ever be chummy with Loki after that.

* * *

"I'm just saying, we deserve a little bit of fun."

Steve resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Not exactly the kind of fun I'm looking for."

"So prim." Tony's eyes were scanning along the street, noting the very obvious hookers, not that he was really shopping but a little eye candy never hurt anyone.

"Tony."

"You need to loosen up a bit, man I'm just saying-"

"_Tony_."

The tone finally got through his head and he stopped, following Steve's gaze until he landed on a male leaning against a building. His eyebrows went up, "Wow, didn't see that coming. You want me to go talk to him-"

"It's _Loki_."

The smile slid off his face as his guard went up and he searched the person again. Yes, he could see it now, that dark hair, the green eyes. He took a step back, unsure what to do. "Should we call in shield? I mean he's… what is he doing?" He eyed him closer, frowning. He wasn't dressed in battle armor, he wasn't even in any Asgardian clothes. He was in a pair of skin tight denim with a black shirt that looked much too small. "What is he wearing?"

"Tony, I think… is he…?" He helplessly waved his hand, indicating the other people in the vicinity, what they were doing.

Steve sounded … he didn't know what he sounded like but he looked back to Loki and he got it then. "You think he's _hooking?_ Are you kidding me? What could he possibly be up to?"

They watched intently as someone approached Loki, holding their breath as they were sure something horrible was about to happen. There was a quick conversation, Tony noting that Loki's eyes stayed trained on the ground, and then the man pulled him back into the alley. That was just… something was very wrong and he itched for his suit.

"Should we do something?"

Tony glanced around, noticing a coffee shop that would let them watch discreetly. "Come on, we'll grab a drink and watch. Maybe it's… maybe it's nothing."

* * *

Tony could not have been more shocked if Loki had come out in battle gear attacking… actually, _that_ would not have been surprising at all. Loki stumbling out, clothes askew while a satisfied looking man shoved money at him… that was shocking.

"Is he… I don't understand. He is prostituting himself?"

Tony shrugged, eyes for Loki. "I… I guess so."

"What could he have to gain from that? Maybe he has some kind of… plot?"

They watched for a while longer, and Tony was starting to feel very surreal as he watched Loki docilely wait for someone else to show up. He finally couldn't take it any longer. "Let's go talk to him."

"No. We need… back up. You don't have your suit, I don't even have my shield."

Something… something told him they wouldn't need them. "Let's just go see what happens." Steve looked like he wasn't going to budge so Tony shrugged, "Then I'll just go by myself."

He didn't give him a chance to protest as he was on his feet, heading out the door and across the street. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Steve scramble to follow him as he strode confidently towards Loki.

He could see that the other man knew someone was approaching him, but instead of going on attack, or the defense Loki tilted his eyes down and tilted his body up, trying to look…seductive? This was all wrong.

He got to within a few feet of him and waited, not sure what to do now. He was vaguely aware of Steve at his shoulder, but all they did was stand there and stare. It was becoming awkward when Loki spoke up, eyes still trained on the ground, "Is there something I can do for you?"

He was moving before he realized, because yes, that was Loki's voice, one he had heard more times than he would have liked to, Loki the _super villain_, and he reached out, grabbing his arm. "_Loki?_"

He didn't so much as pull his arm away as his whole body jerked away. The green eyes flew up to meet his and there was more there than Tony could read. Fear, there was so much fear, shame… confusion and suddenly something like hope. Loki's voice broke as he nearly whimpered out, "Thor? Did Thor finally come? Have I been punished enough?"

The words were slow to process, but what Tony did know was that even though Loki had attempted to pull away he hadn't managed to dislodge his arm. Tony's grip was still tight around his arm, holding him there. He looked down at his hand, tightened his hold and gave an experimental tug, amazed when he was able to pull Loki forward. He felt him try to pull away and pulled him in closer just because … apparently… he could. He met his eyes, "No, no Thor… what is going on here?"

The confusion was back before his face clouded over, realization dawning. "Let me go."

"Tell me what's going on." Steve was hovering, obviously confused.

He started to struggle the smallest bit to get away, to no avail. "If Thor didn't send you why are you here?" His eyes widened suddenly, the fear making his pupils go so large there was barely any green. "Oh. _Oh._" The arm he was holding was trembling and Loki was shaking his head.

Steve touched Tony's shoulder and it was so unexpected that he dropped Loki's arm, letting out a startled 'hey' when Loki took the opportunity to flee. After a moment of shock Tony followed, though he didn't have to go very far.

Almost out of nowhere it seemed an arm reached out and grabbed Loki by his hair, bringing him to a painful stop. "Where do you think you're going?"

Tony caught up just as the man let go of Loki's hair to grab his arm, pulling it up behind his back in a way that _must_ have hurt, but either it looked worse than it did or Loki was used to it because he didn't make a sound even though his face scrunched up. "Nowhere."

His voice was painful to hear, terrified and panicked, and Tony had the odd urge to grab Loki and rip him out of the man's grip. Speaking of which the man looked at him and back at Loki, "You denying a customer?"

"No."

"Yes." Loki's eyes jumped to Tony, something akin to pleading in them, especially when Tony's answer caused the man to tighten his grip and this time a small whine of pain did escape.

"We've been over this, you cannot be stupid enough to still try to run." He turned his attention to Tony, "Do you still want him? I'll give you a discount."

Desperate Steve was at his ear, that sad sad puppy dog look on his face as he whispered out, "Tony… do something."

He… he didn't need Steve's gentle prodding to do something. It was all too obvious that something was very wrong, he didn't care what plan Loki was working on, he had fought the other enough, heard enough of his plans, to _know_ that he wouldn't voluntarily allow himself to be manhandled so. What must have happened that he so desperately wanted Thor? "How much?"

"$40 for a blow job, $100 to fuck him. You can use the back alley." Loki looked like he was gonna cry and he was shaking his head, but the man holding him gave him a sharp slap, "Knock it off." He gave Tony an apologetic look, "He doesn't usually have so much attitude, he'll do what you tell him."

He could have just grabbed Loki and took him, but he didn't want to cause a scene, just wanted to get Loki out of there. He glanced back at the limo, "Fine, but I want to take him back to my place for the night."

It was clear the man didn't like that as he eyed Steve, "For both of you?"

He waved his hand dismissively, this was taking too long. "Yes."

"$1500." He said it like it was a challenge.

Tony didn't even hesitate. He nudged Steve as he pulled out his wallet, "Fine. Steve, grab him."

Steve moved forward hesitantly and reached out. As soon as the man saw the money he let Loki go quick enough to stumble but Steve caught him, immediately pulling him towards the limo. The man took the money and smiled, "Enjoy him, and don't worry, he don't break easy."

Tony tried not to be sick on the man as he kept a smile plastered to his face, turning away stiffly to follow the other two to the car. They were already in, Steve sitting across from Loki, watching him carefully. He had a moment to consider that they could be playing right into a trap but moved forward sliding into the car as well.

He turned to Loki, only to be startled as the other moved, kneeling on the floor in front of him. He glanced up, almost meeting Tony's eyes, voice small, "Please… Please don't hurt me, I can do what… he… said." It sounded like the words were pulled from him, angry and disgusted, and he looked away.

Tony put one hand up to stop Steve from coming closer, and reached out to grab Loki's chin so he could see his eyes, "What the hell happened to you?"

He shrunk back, "What do you want me to do?" When Tony just stared at him he shifted his gaze what he could to Steve, "You? Am I for you?"

"He's… he's playing us, isn't he?"

Loki's face was still held in his hand, he hadn't tried to pull away and Tony shook his head, "No, I don't think he is." He eyed him, tilting his head. "How long has it been since we fought him?"

Steve looked to be thinking about it and finally answered, "8… 9 months ago?"

He looked down, taking in Loki's carefully blank face. "You remember that, right? That we are enemies? That you tried to take over Earth?"

He didn't answer but at that he tried to pull back, relenting when Tony tightened his grip. He glanced around like he was looking for someone, frantic, before he finally settled. Tony made a sound somewhere between a chuckle and sigh, "That man probably keeps you close huh? Not used to being so far away from…?"

There was a moment where he didn't understand what Tony wanted, and for a horrifying moment Tony worried that he might answer with something like 'daddy' but Loki finally answered, "Paul."

He nodded. "From the look on Paul's face when I asked to take you I'm guessing he doesn't let you out of his sight very often. Is it because you'll run or something else?"

Steve leaned forward, "Don't worry, we will keep that man away."

He tried to look at Steve but Tony tightened his hand and shook his head. "He doesn't want us to keep him away, he was looking for him because he's scared."

"Why would he want that man… the one that was hurting him?"

"It's his pimp." He finally let him go and Loki immediately looked down, hands on the floor by his knees. "Do you want us to bring you back to him?"

The reaction was immediate. Loki's head snapped up, and he looked paler than usual, and he placed his hands on Tony's knees. "No, no please, that's not fair. I've been good, you didn't… you didn't ask anything of me, I can do anything." The anger had faded in the panic, and it was painful to listen to.

"Wow. Just wow." He shook his head, "No, I want you to come up here and sit on the seat next to me." He looked over him to Steve, realizing the other was going to be no help. He was staring at Loki like he had never seen him before. He turned towards him, "You aren't going back to him." He grabbed his arm and pulled him up to the seat, not letting go.

"What?" The tone was sharp, and immediately Loki flinched back. He scrambled to cover, "I'm sorry… I have to… Paul will kill me…"

"Jesus, you do remember who I am, don't you?" He got a hesitant nod, "Then tell me what the hell is going on here." He hesitated and couldn't deny the guilt that went through him when he added, "You don't start telling me what I want to hear I'm gonna bring you back to that street corner and tell your pimp you wouldn't listen and I want my god damn money back!" He gave him a shake for good measure and it may have been a little over the top, even if he would only admit it to himself.

"Tony…"

It didn't matter than captain America disapproved of the threat, because Loki was already crying. He hunched in on himself in the corner, whimpering. "Please, please, don't hurt me."

And damnit, Tony felt _bad._

He sighed and thumped back against the seat, leaving Loki to cry. He glared down Steve, "You got a problem?"

He looked away, anywhere but at Loki and they drove along towards the tower in an awkward almost silence, just Loki's tears filling the small space.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hard to believe... but really... I love Loki! I do!**

* * *

Tony spent most of the ride trying to figure out how he was going to explain this and what the hell they were gonna do with the god. A few blocks from the street corner they had found him he had finally not been able to avoid the look on Steve's face, and was only a little surprised that when he had reached out Loki had come to his side instantly. He had a Norse god tucked under his arm, still crying, now into his shirt and really, the day couldn't get any more bizarre.

"Maybe we should try to get ahold of Thor?"

Loki twitched under his arm, tucking himself closer and that made Tony raise an eyebrow. He ignored Steve's question and talked directly to Loki, "What is that about? You begged for him earlier."

He didn't expect him to answer and had to strain to hear the soft voice that was spoken against his shirt, "I thought he'd come to save me."

"You wanna tell me what happened?" He was struggling to sound gentle, it was not his thing, but he had seen the results yelling got.

"…no."

Okay, a little more straight forward then. "I need to know if you're a threat. Maybe I should just take you to SHIELD and let them figure it out."

A longer pause and he thought he heard a sigh, "I have… I have no powers."

Steve perked up at that, finally, maybe he would be helpful. "What do you mean?"

He didn't answer, face turned in, though his breathing sped up and he tried to move closer. Oh no… no… he would not be a safety blanket for an insane wannabe dictator. "Answer his question."

He almost didn't want him to answer, unhappy with the implications if Loki would do as he said but not Steve. "I'm not… I was stripped of my powers. My … my magic." The words choked him up and now one pale hand was gripping the front of Tony's shirt like he was holding on for dear life.

Steve looked at Tony, "Is he not strong anymore?" He tried to meet Loki's eyes, "Does that mean you aren't strong like Thor anymore?"

He shrugged, careful not to dislodge Loki. "He couldn't pull away from me."

"I've never been strong like Thor."

Tony pulled a face at that, oh hell no. He was not going to deal with sibling rivalry issues too. "Do you have the strength that you did?" There, that should be neutral enough.

"No." His voice broke on the word, pained, "I have nothing."

"Should we still bring him to SHIELD?"

He ran his hand over his face, he was getting a migraine. "No. We need to get Thor and figure out what the hell is going on."

"SHIELD can get ahold of him…"

"They'll torture him."

Steven's jaw snapped shut with an audible click and Loki jerked away from Tony, those terrified green eyes searching his face. "Wh-what?"

He turned away from those eyes and met Steve's. "SHIELD will torture him for information, it's… it's kind of what they do. They would love to get their hands on someone from Asgard that can't defend themselves at all."

Something flashed in Loki's eyes at that, anger, but it was gone quickly as he realized exactly what Tony was saying. "Please… don't…"

"We're not okay, we're not." After a moment of thinking he spoke seemingly into the air, "Jarvis, who is at the tower?"

"Agent Barton is currently in the gym."

Loki made a small broken sound and buried himself back under Tony's arm. Great, the worst person, besides maybe Fury himself, that could be there. He heard Loki say something but it was too smothered by his face pressed against his shirt.

"What?"

He said it again but still couldn't understand. He finally reached out and fisted Loki's hair gently and forced his head back. "What?"

"He'll kill me."

Tony frowned, "I'm sure he'd want to." He looked to be considering, "Actually, killing you would probably be the _nicest_ thing he'd do to you."

Loki's whole body was shaking and he suddenly bolted towards the door, going for the handle. Steve grabbed him before Tony could, wrapping his arms around Loki's waist and yanking him back almost on to his lap. He glared at Tony, "Why would you say that?"

Loki was struggling, desperate cries making their way through his mouth, so filled with fear it made both the other men cringe. Steve pulled him tighter, "Relax, if you're human falling out of the car would have probably killed you."

"You're scaring him Captain Spangles."

Steve looked at Loki and back at Tony, "I'm keeping him from hurting himself."

How could Steve not see that holding Loki on his lap was the very thing making him go so wild? He reached out, "Give him here." Reluctantly Steve let go and Loki practically launched himself across the limo seats, blubbering into Tony's shirt. He gave Steve a smug look though… why in the world did he care that Loki seemed to like him more anyways? He leaned in close to Loki. "Relax, I won't let bird brain touch you, okay?"

He didn't know why he was comforting the other, maybe some left over empathy from when he had been captured… tortured… because this was a broken man they had here. He wasn't sure how he had ended up on Earth without powers, had even less idea how the man had somehow ended up as a prostitute, but he wasn't going to turn him over to _anybody_ until he found out.

Steve had a put out look on his face that almost made Tony laugh, "Don't worry, you'll get plenty of time to protect him when we get home and have to explain what the hell is going on." Loki tensed and before he could say what Tony was sure he was going to say he added, "Don't you dare say you don't need to be protected, because I'll take you at your word and leave you to your pimp."

"Stop talking to him like that!"

"How should I talk to him?"

Steve motioned helplessly, "He's scared… he's… be _nice_ to him."

"He's a super villain that nearly destroyed the world." His voice held a note of humor, "Not very super villainy at the moment, true…" He ignored Steve as he reached to grab ahold of his chin and tilt his face up so he could see his eyes, "You don't want to be coddled, do you?" There was no answer and he let him look back down, adding, "I'm sure that will come when Thor gets here."

"I don't want Thor."

"You don't get a choice."

"Sir?"

Embarrassingly all 3 men jumped at the AI's voice, making Tony chuckle. "Yes, how can I help you Jarvis?"

"Ms. Romanoff is also at the tower now."

He nodded, "Thanks Jarvis." He nudged Steve, "Think that will make it worse or help temper Clint?"

He shrugged, "Could go either way."

"I'll send you in first, tell them to stand down."

"Gee thanks."

"Seriously. Take Clint's bow away from him. I'm talking other room."

Steve snorted, "Yea, how about I stay out here with Loki and _you _go try to take Clint's bow away from him."

They were pulling up to the building. "Fine, you go inside and tell them they aren't gonna like who I'm bringing in but they need to stand down and let me talk before they do anything."

Steve nodded and got out, looking a little like he was facing a firing squad. Tony waited until the door closed and forced Loki back a bit, "You know if you're faking the outcome will be very bad for you, right?"

Loki's eyes were darting around, panicked, "Please…"

"Hey look at me." Scared green eyes landed on him and Tony watched him carefully before nodding, "You're not faking. Someone broke you."

"Sir, Mr. Rogers is indicating that you should come in."

"Alright, here we go." He slid out of the limo, pausing to grab something metal from under the seat. He took Loki's hand and helped him out, pressing him back against the limo with one hand. "Turn around and put your hands behind your back for me, okay?"

"What?" He spotted the handcuffs in Tony's hand and shrunk away.

"Come on, I don't want this to get out of hand and if I walk in there with you completely unrestrained it's gonna hit the fan."

"I'll be helpless."

He laughed, "You already are. Now do what you're told."

Somehow he had still expected the other to protest but he leaned against the limo, hands moving behind his back, shaking when Tony pushed the cuffs on him. In this position Tony couldn't help but notice that the God… ex-god?... had a very nice ass. Okay, none of that. He grabbed his upper arm and turned him around, frowning when he realized that Loki was nearly panting, eyes showing too much white. "Hey, calm down." Tony was going from mildly concerned to alarmed, Loki appeared to be in the middle of a full on panic attack. One hand reached up to try to calm him, and he wrapped it around the back of Loki's head, "Hey, relax man."

That seemed to do the trick and Loki centered on him, "I want to go home."

"To Paul?"

He shook his head, "To Asgard." He hesitated, adding, "If they'd take me."

That was… kind of sad. He stroked his fingers through the back of Loki's hair, "Seems like the best way to do that would be to get Thor, right?" He nodded and Tony stepped back, arm falling to take Loki's elbow, "Well then come on, the sooner we get this party going the faster we can get you home."

* * *

Clint was on his feet, arrow nocked, before they were completely through the door. Tony quickly stepped in front of Loki, easy to do when Loki's only goal seemed to be to hide behind him. "Woah woah woah, stand down."

"Are you kidding me, that's _Loki_."

"I know, didn't Steve tell you that you weren't going to like it?"

Natasha was watching the boys, but most of her attention seemed to be on Loki huddling behind Tony. She reached out one hand, barely touching Clint's arm, and he lowered the bow, turning a questioning look to her. "We said we'd listen."

When Clint finally set the bow down Tony drew Loki out from behind him. He looked smaller than his size with his shoulders hunched, face tilted down with his hair covering his eyes. He tried to shrink against Tony, exposed with his hands cuffed behind his back.

"What is going on Tony?"

He cast a quick regretful look at Loki, honesty was the best in this case. "We found him working as a prostitute and I'm pretty sure not by choice." Natasha's face remained blank but Clint's eyes went wide, bow almost slipping out of his hands completely. "I'm not sure why but he has no powers, no magic, no Asgard strength."

"He's powerless?"

Tony nodded, "I think so."

Clint managed, "We need Thor."

At that Loki's head snapped up, eyes momentarily flashing but when Clint tightened his grip on the bow it was gone, leaving only fear as he turned back into Tony's shoulder.

"See? What the hell was that?"

Tony glanced down at him, "Sibling rivalry issues I think." He worked to untangle Loki and pressed him towards the couch, "Sit down." They all watched him until he settled, attention back to Tony when he spoke again. "Yea, so we definitely need Thor, to at least figure out what the hell is going on."

"So have Loki contact him."

"I can't." His voice was breathy, and when Tony looked at him Loki was staring at Clint with fearful eyes.

Natasha tilted her head at that, "Surely that is a lie."

"It's not." The words were a little stronger, but the next out of his mouth shook, "I … I tried to contact him. For him to … come get me… either he cannot hear me or he," he made a choking sound that had Tony moving to sit next to him on the couch, "or he wishes to not respond. I do not know which."

Steve glanced between them, his voice soft, "When we found him the first thing he asked was if Thor was there for him. He mentioned he was being punished."

"How long has he even been on Earth?"

Tony shrugged, "Any idea Loki?"

He shook his head, sliding on the couch until he touched Tony shoulder to hip, and turned his face enough into him that his answer was muffled, "I'm not sure… I don't know how long I was home before I was sent back here."

That was interesting, Tony considered it. "Jarvis, can you look to see any mention of Loki on Earth the last 8 months or so?" He gave Natasha a defensive look when she snorted at his simplistic question, "What? Maybe someone noticed him or recognized him and there was a news story."

"Don't you think SHIELD would have noticed that?"

Tony's arm slid along the back of the couch behind Loki, letting the other turn fully into him and Clint was the first to mention it, "Are you okay Tony… are you sure he hasn't… done something?" Ah, of course Clint would think that.

"No, he's just… I've seen broken. You spent more time with him than anyone, can you tell me you think something isn't seriously wrong here?"

His eyes said he wanted to say it didn't matter, argue, but Clint was honest. He moved his eyes to Loki, really considering him and finally tilted his head, "I'd like to get Thor's opinion."

He and Natasha had a shared look, an unspoken conversation and she nodded as well, "I'd like to know what is going on before we hand him over to SHIELD."

"Sir, I have found mentions of Loki. I was able to match his image."

He was surprised, he hadn't really expected anything. "Lay it on us Jarvis."

He would have sworn his AI hesitated, "Sir, the footage is…"

Clint let out a sound, though Tony wasn't sure what it meant, and snarled, "Footage huh, what kind of trouble have you been causing Loki?"

Tony waved a hand, "Play it."

The screen lit up and they all looked up to watch, even Loki. Credits rolled across the screen and Steve made a disbelieving sound, "He made a movie?"

Tony was going to answer when it started and suddenly in front of them on the screen was a large man. A large _naked_ man. Just around him on the floor Tony could just make out someone kneeling and his eyes went wide. "_Porn_? Jarvis, why are you showing us _porn?_" Obviously his AI had lost it, he must have a wire crossed somewhere. He was about to tell him to turn it off when the large man turned slightly and Tony recognized him as the man claiming to be Loki's pimp. Realization hit him hard, and his stomach dropped down to his feet. By time the man moved enough to reveal Loki kneeling on the ground, naked, bound, gagged he already knew. His eyes went to Loki who was watching the screen, face red and eyes ashamed before he tilted his head enough to meet Tony's eyes, begging for _something_ and then turned back in to Tony's shoulder.

It was like a train wreck, they just couldn't look away. Without taking his eyes off the screen he removed the cuffs from Loki's wrists, there was no doubt in his mind that Loki wasn't pretending. On screen the man was taking off the gag and immediately screen Loki was yelling, voice almost haughty, demanding he be let go. A brutal backhand knocked Loki on his back, and it was obvious it wasn't staged. The haughtiness slipped away like the mask it obviously was, leaving Loki terrified, and begging. Another man behind him grabbed him and shoved him to his hands and knees. On the screen Loki was crying, voice broken as he started to babble about that when his brother came to get him they would all be dead. It was… if Tony had ever doubted that Loki was truly Thor's little brother he didn't anymore. He finally shook out of his stupor when the man behind Loki was actually _fucking_ him, "Jarvis, enough, turn it off." Just before it blinked out he saw the Paul man joking about having something better to shut Loki up than a gag and then there was silence in the room.

Silence except for the sounds Loki was making, shuddering sobs into Tony's shirt. Jarvis broke up the quiet, "Did you want to see the others sir?"

"Christ. There's more?"

"Yes sir."

"How many?"

A small pause, "At least 11, sir."

He was sure he was making a horrified face and his arms had tightened around Loki until he was possibly crushing him.

"What?" Clint sounded confused but Tony was sure it was just denial, "He came back to Earth to be a porn star?"

Natasha met Tony's eyes and he knew she had seen it. The fear in Loki's eyes, the fear had been real. He was pretty sure they had just watched Loki being raped, and … and there were more. She shook her head, "I don't think he had a choice Clint."

"Was that…" Steve's voice was almost shaky. He had seen horrible things, true, but the thought that someone they knew – even a villain, would be raped on camera like that and sold as porn… it was a horrible thought.

Loki made a small sound of protest, pitifully subdued, and Tony realized how tight he was holding him. He loosened his arms but didn't pull away, and that seemed to be fine with Loki. "Loki, what the hell happened to you?"

"Please…"

He leaned back, not sure what Loki wanted, "What?"

Intense green eyes stared up at him, desperate, ashamed, "Please don't let Thor see."


	4. Chapter 4

They settled Loki in to a room, Tony making sure to tell him that the door locked, not to try to escape, not to cause trouble, etc. It seemed pretty pointless to be telling it to someone that looked like they wanted to do nothing but curl up in the corner. He watched him for a moment and realized something, "Jarvis, can you direct the boys to some extra clothes that might fit Loki?"

"Yes sir."

He glanced at him, "You probably want to get out of those clothes, yea?"

Loki's whole body stiffened up and Tony grimaced, "I didn't mean… just meant you might want more comfortable clothes, okay?" Loki nodded his understanding but his eyes were still wary and Tony shrugged, "Tonight you will get whatever we can find that will fit you, but we'll pick out some other clothes. Have a color preference?"

He tilted his head, and nodded slowly. He looked almost shy, looking anywhere but at Tony. "Green."

He chuckled at that, "Oh yea, I remember." He pointed at him, trying to keep the situation light, "I'm not getting you a horned helmet though, just to be clear."

Loki was pacing the room, and had just laid his hand on the bed when Tony spoke and he look up, and to Tony's surprise there was just a shadow of humor in his eyes, "Thor told me I looked like a cow."

He was watching him, obviously judging Tony's reaction and somehow he knew he'd be giving the wrong response if he laughed. He gave him back a good look, "I'm sure you had something equally scathing to call him. Probably more clever."

Loki tilted his head down and away, "Perhaps."

"You looked more like a reindeer anyways." He was surprised Loki was so chatty but when the other man anxiously glanced at the bed again he got it. Nerves, Loki was frightened. He very slowly, intentionally, took several steps backwards away from the bed.

Loki's eyes darted to him like a scared animal, but seemed to understand that Tony was giving him more space and the tension along his shoulders eased a little. He moved away from the bed to lean against the wall by the window. "I do not know what a reindeer is."

"It's kind of…" He struggled to think of how to explain it. "4 legs, runs in the woods, has antlers." He was saved from having to explain it more as the door pushed open, of all people Clint standing there with an armful of clothing.

If Tony thought Loki had been frightened with him in the room it had been nothing compared to now. Loki scrambled from the casual lean, darting to the far corner of the room, putting an arm chair between him and Clint. Clint took a step towards him and he whimpered, pressing back further, making him hesitate.

Tony stepped forward, reaching for the clothes. "Here, I'll take them." He glanced at the clothes and paused, raising eyebrows at Clint, and now he could see the humor on the other's face. "Really?" He was holding a pair of sleeping pants and an obnoxious Captain America gray t-shirt. "Where did this even come from?"

Clint shrugged, face a picture of innocence, "Only clothes that would fit him were Rogers'."

"And obviously this was all he had." Clint shrugged and Tony felt a snicker bubbling up as he realized… "Why does Steve have pajamas with his own emblem on them? That's just kinda sad."

Barton nodded, eyes sparkling, and he realized the joke wasn't just on Loki. He shook his head and turned to him, "Come on over here, it's fine."

He had gone pale though, staring at Clint, eyes darting to the bed anxiously. The smile slowly slid off Barton's face. "I'll just head out then." It was one thing for the god to be afraid of him, that didn't bother him, the god staring at him like he thought he was going to rape him? That left a bitter taste in his mouth and he ducked out of the room, leaving him to Tony.

Silently he thanked Barton for not making things worse and held out the clothes, "Come on. Just some clothes to change into."

His face was flushed, embarrassed by his own fear. "I'm okay in what I have."

"Don't be difficult." When Loki kept the chair between them he strode forward, ignoring Loki's cringe. "You want to keep wearing those?" He tried to reach for him but he skittered backwards and he frowned, "Listen, unless I'm mistaken you were wearing those the last time you fucked some guy on the street, you'd think you'd want to get cleaned up. Put on something that didn't make you look like a fuck toy?"

He cringed at the hurt sound Loki made, and okay, so he could have been a little nicer but really… that _was_ him trying to be nice. He did finally move forward though and Tony handed him the clothes. He looked down to them, voice barely more than a whimper, "Are these meant to humiliate me?"

He tried to picture Loki in the Captain America shirt and yes, despite the situation it made laughter coil in his stomach, wanting to come out. "In part, yea I guess. Clint's idea. Kind of on Steve too, since they are his."

Loki nodded his acceptance of that, and that was almost disappointing. Tony pointed to a door in the side of the room. "Bathroom over there. Shower and all that. Help yourself." Loki's face lit up a bit at that, "I'm gonna head out to talk to the others, and I'm gonna lock this door. If you need anything you can just talk to Jarvis and he'll get me." He pointed at him, "Do not put those clothes back on. When I come back you should have on the obnoxious pajamas. Got it?"

Again, a disappointing nod of consent. World destruction aside, Loki was more entertaining as a villain.

* * *

Two hours later and they had gotten literally nowhere. It was frustrating as Barton asked for the fifteenth time, "So what are we going to do with him?"

"Hold him until Thor gets here at least. Or until he proves he's dangerous."

"Kind of like waiting until after a dog bites to do anything, huh?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No." Clint sighed. "I don't like him being here."

Steve broke in, "Any idea how to get ahold of Thor?"

"I'm not sure." Tony idly pulled up the surveillance footage of Loki's room, watching him curled up against the headboard, knees pulled up to his chest. He shifted and there was the bright emblem of Steve's shield on the shirt. He turned the laptop towards Steve, "Aw, he's a fan."

Natasha glanced over and her lips twisted in a smile before she hid it, "Now that is torture."

"It's not like I bought the shirt," he grumbled. His face was red, embarrassed, as he tried to get them back on track, "You really think that Loki doesn't know how?"

"Maybe he was getting through to him and Thor didn't answer?" That had been Natasha and Tony sent her a scathing look.

"Have you met Thor? You think if he had any idea this was going on he wouldn't have come down to get his brother, hammer swinging?"

There were no disagreements in the group, even in the heat of battle the connection between Loki and Thor was obvious.

"Sir, Loki is asking for you."

Tony glanced down at the footage to see Loki hovering near the door, glancing anxiously at the camera. He looked like he was still talking.

"Thank you Jarvis."

"Do you need help?"

Tony glanced at the camera again and shook his head. "I don't think so. Make sure you come running if you hear screaming though."

* * *

He unlocked the door and opened it, pausing as Loki stumbled backwards so he wasn't struck with the door. It made his anxiety spike, it felt like a trap, like Loki was waiting for him and he went into a fighting stance, cursing that he didn't have his suit.

Loki scrambled backwards though, till the back of his knees hit the table in the room, spilling him over the side of it, landing him in a heap on the floor.

Tony let out a nervous chuckle, easing his stance as he went to check on him. He was in an undignified sprawl on the floor, Captain America t-shirt twisted around his torso awkwardly, leaving a span of midriff showing. "You okay?" From somewhere outside the door he could hear laughter, and was sure they'd been watching the camera. He spared a moment to look up and flip them off before looking back to Loki. "You want a hand up or do you want me to not touch you?"

He already knew the answer, or so he thought, so he was surprised when Loki wordlessly put out a hand, eyes cautious. He reached down and pulled him to his feet, automatically reaching out to help him straighten his clothes, noting that even though Loki tensed at first after a few seconds he relaxed. He stepped back to look at him, "Not quite as intimidating as the leather."

Loki frowned down at his clothes and smoothed his hands over the shirt, "These are children's clothes are they not?"

"You'd think and yet, still, they are Steve's." He tilted his head, "You needed something?"

"I'm…" He looked unsure, "I didn't know if you would…" His finally looked down, voice flat and resigned, "I'm hungry."

"Alright, let's go get ya something to eat."

He startled and looked up, "You'll let me eat?"

That was an odd question, "Sure." He eyed him, "You up to coming to the kitchen?" He was still staring at him, "What, something on my shirt?" He glanced down at his own clothes. It was starting to make him uncomfortable, "Seriously, what were you not allowed to eat?" Loki's mouth snapped shut and he looked away and really, Tony couldn't believe how stupid he could be sometimes. "You weren't allowed to eat." It was a statement.

"I got to eat, food just came… at a cost."

He moved forward without thinking and threw an arm around Loki's shoulder, "Well the only cost here is getting fat." He tilted his head, "Well I mean I'm sure the food cost money but ya know, billionaire." He pulled him in closer, "Jarvis, let the kids know its dinnertime."

Loki let himself be pulled along, even pressed into Tony's side a bit. Stark felt… felt safe to him, and he would take that anywhere he could find it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **I'm gonna try to keep regular updates... but things might slow down to a day or two in between now! I'll do my best!

* * *

By the time they reached the kitchen the others were already there and Loki balked, but instead of pulling away he curled in further to Tony, and Tony could see a very very bad pattern starting. He pulled his arm from Loki's shoulder and testing the waters placed it on his lower back, pushing him towards the counter. Loki complied, sitting on the stool, hunching his shoulders at the nervous giggling that filled room. He did look absolutely ridiculous in the pajamas.

"So what will you have?"

"Waffles."

"Pizza."

"Coffee."

Tony frowned, the only person he hadn't heard from was Loki. He pointed at the others, "You three can all get your own."

"Oh sure, serve the super villain."

"I feel like I should make up the pajamas to him somehow."

There was some grumbling but the other three started moving through the kitchen, bumping in to each other as they tried to get food. He watched them for a moment, wondering how the world hadn't been destroyed by _someone_ yet. He shook his head and turned to Loki, "So how about you? What do you want?"

He looked down to his hands, "Whatever… whatever I can have."

"You can have anything."

He was wringing his hands now, glancing between them as his face flushed, and he didn't see Natasha turn her attention to him as he muttered, "Whatever you want me to have…"

Tony raised an eyebrow, "Seriously man, you don't know what kind of food you want?"

Natasha leaned forward on the counter, "Loki?"

He looked to Tony first but then looked to her, not meeting her eyes, "Yes?" There was a fearful tremor in his voice, not as bad as Clint caused but there nonetheless.

"You're gonna get pizza." He hesitated, but nodded his acceptance of that, his shoulders drooping with relief.

Tony glanced back and forth between them, "What if he doesn't like pizza?"

She shrugged, "He'll eat it."

Apparently he wasn't the only one that didn't like that as Steve looked up from trying to toast a frozen waffle, "Let him pick his own food."

She frowned at the coffee pot she was waiting to brew and answered, voice detached, unapologetic. "You're stupid if you couldn't see that making a decision was stressing him out. He's spent god knows how long getting told what to do, for now he's best off getting orders."

Loki tensed at that but didn't disagree, face turning an alarming shade of red. Tony tried to think about how he had felt when he had gotten back and couldn't help the first thought that popped into his head, "As soon as I could make my own decisions I wanted to, I wanted to control _everything_."

She shrugged, "Everyone's different. You can see it in his eyes though, he's too scared to made a decision."

Tony didn't answer, eyeing Loki. Without being asked Barton had put two pizzas in the oven, and leaned back against it while they cooked, watching Loki as well. He could see the gears working even before Clint opened his mouth, "So tell us what happened."

Loki looked up, eyes going to Tony until he nodded and then back to the table. "I was banished."

"Like the first time Thor came down to Earth?"

A muscle in his jaw twitched and his words came out clipped but he answered, "Yes."

Barton tilted his head, "He was here a few days and went home. How did you go so wrong?"

He shifted awkwardly, "I don't know." His hand ran over the pants he wore and frowned, "Thor told me that when I got here there would be people to help…" His eyes sought out Tony, a question in his voice, "There wasn't anyone."

He understood what Loki wasn't saying. Thor had gotten lucky when he landed, and of course the naïve bastard thought that is always what would happen. "So what did you do when you… arrived?" He made a face at the word but couldn't think of anything better.

There was no answer, Loki couldn't even begin to put in to words what had happened. Where was his silver tongue when he needed it? They were all still looking at him though so he tried to appease Tony, "I… I looked for help."

Clint snorted, "And how did that go?"

Loki snapped his look to him, meeting his eyes for a long moment. "Badly."

* * *

Surprisingly, Clint let it drop at that. They all wanted to know exactly what had happened, but it turned out none of them were really equipped to deal with someone that had been … that had whatever happened to Loki happen.

The oven dinged and Loki just about came out of his seat, self-consciously straightening himself on it, arms crossed over his chest, a tentative glare daring anyone to laugh. Clint pulled out the pizzas, cursing as he burned himself, but he slid them on to two plates. He couldn't bring himself to actually _serve_ Loki, but was saved from that as Steve grabbed the plate, his other hand holding a plate of waffles. He sat down next to Loki, ignoring that he cringed away, and set the plate down in front of him.

They all watched subtly as Loki looked down at the plate, and Tony smothered a laugh at the distasteful look he shot the pizza. He wasn't saying he wanted something else though. He went to reach for the food and Tony found himself moving forward quickly and grabbing his wrist. Instantly Loki whimpered, cringing against the counter, startled by the sudden movement. Tony glanced around, Natasha had her hand on her gun and the bow was in Clint's hand and he sheepishly shrugged, "I …" He directed his attention to Loki, "The pizza is hot. I don't think he knows."

Loki edgily centered himself back on the stool and reached out tentatively to touch the pizza, yanking his hand back when it was in fact hot. He tapped his fingers against the counter impatiently, obviously hungry, but his eyes sought out Tony's, blushing when they met. "Thank you."

Natasha tilted her head at Tony, "You not eating?"

He grinned at her as he headed towards the liquor cabinet, even as she rolled her eyes. Loki followed him closely with his eyes, finally relaxing next to Steve. He had just opened the door when a small hand came out of nowhere, pushing it close. "Liquor is not dinner Tony."

The whole room froze as Pepper came in, her eyes sweeping the room as she moved forward only to stumble as her eyes landed on Loki. Her panicked eyes swept to Tony, "Are we in danger?"

It rather didn't seem so, Natasha leaning against the counter drinking a cup of coffee, Steve elbow deep in a plate of waffles and Loki sitting there in Captain America pajamas with a frozen pizza on the plate in front of him.

"No, we're not."

She nodded, taking him at his word, examining the situation. She was the best for a reason. She did notice that Tony moved towards Loki, and she recognized the body language instantly. Protective… whatever had happened it was enough to make Tony not only let Loki in his house, but willing to protect him. The captain turned to her a bit too blocking him a bit as well. She nodded, "Something really bad must have happened to you, huh?" She turned her attention back to Tony and the look she gave him said that she'd trust him for now but at some point he had some real explaining to do, "Get some real food for dinner. You have a full time chef, why do you insist on eating frozen pizzas and waffles?"

Tony could only give her a rakish grin, she was just plain amazing. "What's wrong with frozen pizzas?"

Loki eased closer to Tony though the woman didn't look like much of a threat. He looked down at the food and mumbled, "Well, it's too hot."

There was a snort of amusement from Tony but Pepper moved into the kitchen shaking her head. She grabbed the plate from Loki and searched in the drawer for a moment before pulling out a knife, cutting it in half, and pushed it back to him. "That will make it cool faster."

"Can you cut mine too?" Clint was grinning at her over his half eaten pizza but quickly looked away when she glared at him.

She glanced around and nothing else seemed amiss so she pointed at Tony, "You, I think we need to talk, yes?"

He put up his hands in silent surrender, "Sure thing Pepper, lead the way."

"You're leaving?"

Halfway to the door Tony froze, looking back to Loki now on his feet by the counter, food forgotten. "Yes, I'll be right back. Just sit with Steve." A dubious glance was slid to Steve and back to Tony, the plea obvious. He shook his head, "No, I told you you're safe and god knows Captain Spangles there will throw himself in front of any danger. Stay here, eat your food."

"Don't call me that."

Tony shrugged helplessly, "I can't help it. It cheers up reindeer games." His gaze turned slightly more serious as he met Loki's eyes, "I'll be right back, okay?"

He glanced around, face flushing at the eyes all on him, as he realized how ridiculous he was being. He nodded clumsily and slid back onto his seat, looking down at his plate subconsciously. Tony watched him for a moment, sharing a meaningful look with Steve before he headed out.

Without Tony in the room it seemed worse and he folded his hands in his lap, he was still hungry but was too anxious to eat. He startled as Steve tapped the plate, "Go ahead and eat, you're fine."

Clint moved towards the counter, nodding at the plate, "If you're not gonna eat that I'll take it."

Automatically Loki reached out, pushing the plate towards him, but Clint reached out just as quick pushing it back. "I'm kidding man." They were both focused on him now, and it was too much, he needed to get away. He scrambled to his feet, surprised when they let him and took off towards his room. He kept his back straight, his shoulders thrown back, he had humiliated himself enough for the day.

He was aware of Steve following at a discreet distance, just like he was aware of the door locking once he was in the room with the door shut. He didn't care. It wasn't about getting out, it was about keeping everyone else out. His stomach rumbled and he winced, wishing he had at least been able to get some food before he had been scared off, but there was nothing to do for it now. He curled up on the bed, pulling blankets close even though he wasn't cold, and wished he was back home.


	6. Chapter 6

Of all the things that could have happened, someone knocking on the door was the very last thing he expected. Loki tilted his head at the door, moving to his feet cautiously, not sure what he was supposed to do. He waited and there was another knock and he finally straightened a little, calling out, "Who… who's there?"

"It's me Loki, can I come in?"

He recognized Tony's voice immediately and nearly tripped over himself getting to the door to open it, only remember that he was locked in when he grabbed the handle and it wouldn't turn. He made a frustrated sound but took a step back, "Come in?"

Tony opened the door with one hand, balancing something in his other as he pushed the door open. "Hey Loki, I take it lunch didn't go so great?"

He was embarrassed and looked away, "I…" His words failed him, such a hopeless situation when he couldn't even come up with a simple defense of his behavior.

"It's okay Loke, I brought you some food."

At the words his gaze shifted to what Tony was holding, and he found the frozen pizza had been replaced by a salad and he wanted to be happy, he was starving, but they were much too close to the bed for Tony to be bringing him food.

His mouth was dry, "No thanks."

"Come on, you gotta be starving. Pepper thought you might be more of a salad person than pizza."

He resolutely kept from looking at the bed, trying not to give away his fear. "I'm not… I'm not hungry."

"I'm calling BS on that reindeer games, do you not like salads?" Even as he was talking his eyes drifted around the room, landing on the bed, and he raised an eyebrow. He could leave the food on the table and head out, and the other would _probably_ eat, but he wasn't gonna tip toe around this. "Okay, we need to talk about this."

"Talk about what?"

"Don't play dumb Loki, it really does not suit you."

Loki could only stare at him impotently, no idea how to express what he wanted to say. So he stared and waited for Tony to say something… do something. They stood there for a long time and finally Loki huffed, looking away, "What do you want?"

"Do you honestly think anyone here is gonna require you perform for food? I understand you went through something really awful, but look at me and tell me that you think I'll make you do that to get this food."

"Tony…"

"No." He finally set the salad down on the side table and moved into Loki's personal space, grabbing his arm to keep him there. "Do you think I would force you for any reason?"

It made Loki shift uneasily, obviously wanting to pull away, but finally he spoke at the floor, "No. I don't think _you_ would."

He had started to nod but caught the emphasis on the word and narrowed his eyes. "Barton then? Or Steve… please tell me you don't think Steve would. Steve wouldn't even know _how._"

He tugged on his arm, "Please leave me alone."

"No. _Talk to me_."

"He _hates_ me Stark, I don't know why I'm here. What do you want from me?" Tony cringed as Loki's voice went high pitched, frantic as his questions were all over the place, and automatically tried to pull him in close to calm him.

"I told you I wouldn't let him hurt you."

"Why… why won't you let him? I… I deserved what happened, I was supposed to learn humility and it must not… must not be good enough because I'm _still here_."

"Thor doesn't know that this is happening."

When Loki jerked away he let him, and he liked seeing that angry edge in his eyes, it made him more interesting, "Of course he does, this is my punishment."

Tony shook his head, "I know that he wouldn't allow this. Maybe something went wrong. If he had any inclination of what was happening to you he'd be down here waging a war path until he found everyone that hurt you.

He didn't expect Loki's face to soften at that, for him to blink back tears, and his voice was unusually vulnerable, "You think he would care?"

"I know he would."

Loki's body relaxed a bit at that and he moved towards the food, "May I… may I please eat?"

"Nobody here is going to hurt you, especially not like that. Do you understand?"

He glanced at the food, the floor, the camera, anywhere but at Tony. "I… yes, I understand." If Tony said he was safe then he was safe. He glanced at the food again, mouth nearly watering.

"Okay, then I will leave you to eat."

He only nodded and Tony was nearly out the door before Loki spoke up, "Tony?"

"Yup?"

"I do prefer salads. Thank you."

He tipped his head, understanding what the other was trying to say and couldn't stop his trademark smirk from crossing his face, "You are more than welcome Reindeer Games."

* * *

Tony shut the door, locking it, and stared at it for a long moment. He was aware that though he sympathized with Loki, he felt something more than that. He had no intention of hurting him, no intention of _pursing _anything, not when he was so obviously traumatized. He couldn't help that he noticed him though. Noticed that he had a nice ass, noticed that the way his hair fell in his face made Tony want to push it back, noticed-

"What are you doing?"

He nearly jumped out of his skin, whirling around, his hand embarrassingly fluttering in front of him, startled. "Jesus Natasha, you damn near gave me a heart attack." He tilted his head for a moment, thinking, "I don't enjoy those."

She glanced past him at the closed door, "What were you doing? You were just standing there."

He straightened, plastering a smirk on his face. "I think the question is what are _you_ doing here, my lovely little spider?"

She only rolled her eyes, "I'm going to talk to Loki."

He couldn't help it as his whole body tensed up and he bodily moved in between her and the door. His voice came out much more intense than he intended, "Why?"

She raised an eyebrow, leaning back, too much speculation crossing through her eyes for Tony to feel comfortable. "I had a couple questions for him."

"I'll come in with you."

She chuckled, "Do you fear for my safety? I'm certain I can handle him."

He wasn't moving though and reached back with one hand, protectively covering the door handle. "He's eating right now."

"What is going on Stark? I'm not allowed to ask our prisoner some questions?"

He forced down his knee jerk reaction to say that _no_, Loki wasn't a prisoner and instead made himself relax, step forward. "Of course you are. I just… this is not a Shield interrogation room, so ya know… ask nicely." He knew he was giving away too much but couldn't help but add, "I'm going to be watching."

She only gave him an amused grin and nodded, sidestepping him and lying her hand on the door knob. "Of… course."

* * *

Tony didn't waste any time, scrambling to get to where he could watch the room. Ignoring the startled look Steve gave him when he grabbed the remote and turned the tv on to the surveillance video.

"Oh yea, she said she wanted to talk to him."

Tony already didn't like what he was seeing, Loki looked to be holding the fork in a white knuckle grip, staring at Natasha across the room, apparently frozen to the spot. She took a few steps closer and his eyes narrowed, though he set the fork down. His body tensed like he was going to flee, but Natasha stopped moving and leaned against the wall and he held his ground.

"You knew she was doing this?"

Steve shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, like someone trained in torture and interrogation didn't have free access to someone as damaged as Loki. Steve looked back to what he was doing, "Well we all had questions, we figured she would be the best option to talk to him since he's afraid of the guys."

There was some comfort in that as he felt some of the tension in his stomach ease, enough that he could sit down and stare at the screen instead of hovering inches away from it. "What is she asking him?"

Steve glanced up again, eyes staying on Tony for a moment before sliding to the screen, wondering what he was so intense about. "Nothing too important, just general information. I mean… we got a general idea about what is happening but hopefully he has some more details."

"She's upsetting him." And she was, maybe he didn't fear getting raped, but he certain feared _her_. He had moved to his feet, backing against the far wall, putting the bed in between him even though she hadn't moved from her spot against the wall. "What the hell is she asking him that has him that afraid?"

"Maybe what happened when he arrived?"

It wasn't until Steve answered that he realized he had said that out loud and he leaned closer to the screen, bothered that he had let it get to him that much.

The conversation actually seemed pretty tame and after fifteen minutes of watching them talk Tony was starting to get bored. It was rather anticlimactic after the panic he felt. Loki was actually relaxing a bit it seemed, arms hesitantly crossed against his stomach as his eyes never left the woman. Tony was about to give up and find something else to do when Natasha pushed away from the wall suddenly, her face in contrast to the abruptness, calm and relaxed and whatever she said made Loki flinch hard against the wall, hands coming up as if to ward off a blow, and Tony was on his feet.

* * *

The door rattled moments after Tony left and Loki looked up with a tentative smile, only to have it slide off his face when it was the Russian woman instead. He froze, staring at her. His eyes glanced anxiously towards the door and he could hear the smile in her words, "He's not coming in, just me and you."

His hand tightened around the fork until it hurt, not that he paid it much mind. He was too busy trying to assess the room, assess his escape routes. He must have given away something with his eyes because she laughed softly as she moved forward, "I have a few questions, Loki, will you answer them if I ask nicely?"

He narrowed his eyes at that, distasteful of her condescending town. He slowly set the fork down and resisted the urge to flex his hand, not willing to show any more weakness than he already had. He tilted his gaze somewhat down, not meeting her eyes and offered, "Depends on what you ask."

"Interesting."

Her tone was mildly threatening and he tensed up but she didn't come closer, leaning against the wall and feigning disinterest in him, something that he found just as disrespectful as anything else when they both knew it was fake. He leaned back in his chair, glancing up at the camera, wondering if anyone was watching. Wondering if anyone would stop her from doing anything to him, or if he was truly at her mercy.

"I wouldn't have thought it was this hard to keep your attention, perhaps I need to be more… motivating."

There was so much insinuated in her tone that before he realized it he was on the other side of the bed, as far away from her as he could manage. He looked up, even though he knew the AI could hear him without him looking at him, "I need Tony."

He wasn't sure exactly what was in his voice but he saw Natasha's body language instantly eased, "Jarvis, he's knows I'm here. Please disregard that message from the prisoner." She looked back to Loki, "Do not worry, Stark has already requested that if at all possible I play nice." He didn't say anything, so she continued. "Where did you land when you arrived?"

"I don't know."

She couldn't help the frown at that, "Near here or were you brought here?"

It comforted him to know that Tony knew she was in the room with him, that someone knew and he wasn't alone. He tried to think about her question, "I'm not sure, I do not believe that I traveled very far since I've been here."

"Has anyone recognized you?"

He shook his head instantly and his voice was wry, "I imagine if they had I'd be dead by now. Or… being punished by your Shield."

"Good point, perhaps you are not as dumb as trying to take over Earth would make you seem." He crossed his arms self-consciously at that and said nothing. She nodded, "Alright then, what is your plan?"

"Plan?" He didn't have to fake the confusion in his statement.

"Yes. You have been here for 8 months, it is certainly a long time to wait but I'm sure you have some sort of plan."

He tried to keep the anger out of his voice. When would he have had time to plan? Every moment since he had landed had been a struggle. "I do not."

"I see the way you cuddle up with Stark, you're telling me you have no ulterior motive?"

He worked to push down the flush that tried to crawl up his face, "I do not… Tony… _Stark_ feels… safe." He cursed his newfound inability to put together a coherent sentence and let a frown fill his words. "I have no plans."

"Who do you think you're fooling, I played you once Loki, don't forget that."

"I haven't."

She watched him for a long moment, judging his reaction, and suddenly pushed forward from the wall making him jump, though she kept her face calm for the camera. "My ledger is dripping, is it not? You hurt Stark, you hurt anyone here, and I will not hesitate to add more red to it Loki." Her voice lowered, dangerous, quiet, "If you are playing us I will make what has been done to you look like child's play."

The tone of the words more than the words themselves drove his reaction, she sounded so sure, so set on how badly she could hurt him that he couldn't help but flinch, throwing his hands up to ward her off like she was going to attack him immediately. She wasn't moving forward but he tried to head her off anyways, "Please, I'm telling the truth, I wouldn't hurt Tony…"

It didn't matter though because the door flew open and they both jumped, and Tony was there between them, a little belatedly wondering what he would do if Natasha pushed the subject since without his suit there wasn't much he could do.

"I'm in the middle of an interrogation."

"I saw." He waved at Loki, "You see his state, he's in no shape to be undergoing your type of questions. What were you asking him?"

She laughed at that, easy, relaxed and there was nothing fake about it. "I was just letting him know what would happened if he was to hurt you or our teammates." She eyed Tony's protective stance and shrugged, "You can't tell me that if it was one of us you wouldn't be … _worried_."

Tony frowned at that, absently mindedly reaching out a hand to Loki to comfort him, wrapping his fingers around his hand and pulling him closer. "You guys saw the videos, you saw the look on his face, you know as well as I do that this isn't faked."

She nodded and when she glanced at Loki there was a smidgen of respect, "No, you are correct. I do believe he is telling the truth I just don't trust him to not try to use it to his advantage at some point. I'd rather it not be at our expense."

He was so close to telling her to get out, out of Loki's room, out of the tower, but Loki's hand pulled him closer, tugging on his hand to get his attention. "She is only looking out for your safety."

"Yea well, maybe you need someone to look out for yours."

Loki's face clouded over and he dropped Tony's hand to wrap his arms tightly around his waist, "I am nobody's burden."

The hurt was clear and Tony wondered what old hurt he had stumbled on, and he was thankful when Natasha gave them a dismissive nod and let him know that was all the information she was looking for, and took her leave of the room.

A glance told him that the salad was barely touched and he reached out to firmly take Loki's arm and guide his back to the table, pressing him into the seat. When he merely sat there Tony grabbed the fork and shoved it into his hand, "Eat."

Loki glanced down at the plate, one hand anxiously going to touch his stomach, an obvious subconscious desire that spoke of how hungry he was. He swallowed hard and tilted his gaze up to Tony, beseeching. His voice was small, "Stay with me?"

It wasn't what he wanted to do, he wanted to put space between him and Loki, to deal with the very conflicting feelings he felt for the super villain, but he settled into the seat across from him, making it worth it when Loki's body physically relaxed and he tucked into his food.


	7. Chapter 7

"No more interrogations without me present. Got it?"

They startled as Tony appeared in the doorway, looking agitated and dead serious. They glanced to each other, Clint raising an eyebrow in an 'I told you so' manner. Steve was the one to answer. "Any particular reason why?"

Tony's eyes flashed at that, threatening, and Clint snickered though he quickly hid it in a cough when Tony's gaze slid to him. "Because I own this building, I fund our team and because _I said so_."

Natasha calmly laid her arms on the table, leaning forward on them and made a dismissive motion even as she hid a smile. "Of course Tony, if it is that important to you."

"It is." He swept a warning glare across the room before he stomped out heading back towards Loki's room.

There was a momentary silence before Clint gave Steve a meaningful look, "Come on, cough it up."

Disgruntled Steve shook his head, "That doesn't prove anything."

Clint chuckled at that, "Believe, call it a day on Stark's feelings, give me my five bucks for you losing the bet and pray that you don't _have_ to _see_ further proof of his feelings for Loki."

Actually, that was a good point. Steve grudgingly took out his wallet, pulled out a five and shoved it at Clint. "There, take it."

Clint pocketed it with a flourish and leaned back in his chair. "Anyone care to take bets on what is going to happen when Banner gets here?"

* * *

Tony had called Banner, and had explained that he had some news that Banner was not going to like… he had just left out exactly who it involved. He had hoped to meet with Banner somewhere outside the tower and explain what was going on, and then they could come back and he would see Loki and everything would be calm and careful.

He really should have planned on the fact that Banner was a natural scientist, curious, and the mystery of only half an explanation would bring him to the tower faster than if Tony had _asked_ him to come.

What he didn't know was why he was staring at Banner in the doorway to Loki's room and he had no warning from Jarvis. "Jarvis…. Could have used a little warning…"

Bruce raised his eyebrows at that, "Since when does me showing up require an alarm."

There was no help from his AI, "He is correct sir, you have not specified to tell you when Mr. Banner arrived. He has always been free to come and go."

He wanted to point out to Banner that obviously he was always welcome but Banner had already looked past him, staring at Loki. "What is he doing here?"

It moved him into action, Tony grabbing Loki's arm as Banner stood leaning against the doorway, looking pale.

Not as pale as Loki was looking, eyes terrified as they scanned Banner.

"Hey wait, I told you to stay calm. That I had news, right?"

They were losing the battle though, Banner was sweating and looked bigger than he had been a moment before, skin turning green. He was fighting it, but looked like he was losing. When his eyes landed on Loki the words came out sounding wrong, the hulk's words in Banner's body. "Puny god."

Loki was nearly clawing at the back of Tony's shirt, there was no other way out of the room other than the window, and he was pretty sure Loki wouldn't survive the ten story fall as a human. "Tony."

He reached back to touch his arm, "I got this Loki." He didn't sound confident though and he racked his brain on how to calm him. He pulled Loki forward, "Hey big guy. Uh… Puny, yes. God… not so much anymore."

Banner's eyes slid to Loki, who had an indignant glare aimed at Tony, but confusion was starting to filter on, curiosity pushing back the anger, "Human?"

"Yes! Yes, human. He hurts human easy now, see?" He yanked Loki forward, sending him an apologetic look before he grabbed his arm, twisting it in an indian burn, the most harmless thing he could think of on the spot.

Loki shrieked like he had been stabbed though, yanking his arm out of Tony's grip and stumbling backwards, holding his arm to him, "That hurt!" He stared at his arm, voice still overly pitched, "What did you do?"

"For the love of… it was just an indian burn…"

"You _burned_ me?"

He huffed, sure that Loki was over reacting. He reached for him, "All I did was-"

"Don't do it _again_!"

He cringed as Loki's voice sky rocketed into a shriek and yes, yes he was definitely over reacting. "I'm not gonna do it again, just come here, I'll show you what I did." There was a moment of real fear on Loki's face as Tony grabbed him and pulled him to him, and he briefly wondered how bad an indian burn did hurt. It had been awhile. He grabbed Loki's arm even though he whimpered, but didn't move. "I just twisted different directions, that's all."

"It hurt."

"Fascinating."

Loki and Tony both jerked to face Banner, Tony chagrinned as he realized he completely forgot why they were doing this. With relief he realized that Banner was staring back at them, eyebrow cocked, grin on his face. He slid his gaze back and forth between them, finally landing on Loki. "So I take it something has happened?"

Tony eased Loki behind him just in case but nodded, "Yes, he was banished to Earth. No powers, strength, magic. Is he safe, you got things under wraps?"

Banner nodded easily and Tony trusted him to know. He moved forward, something like a clinical curiosity in his eyes. Loki held his ground, though Tony could see a fine tremble starting through his body, though he was doing better that he didn't cower with a man approaching. "Hey relax, it's under control. You know I'd love to-" He had reached out to touch Loki's arm, probably in a subconscious gesture to ease the man who was visibly shaking now, only to have Loki cry out in fear, scrambling backwards.

Tony was there, catching him and pulling him in close, shushing him. Bruce was frozen in spot, hand still outstretched. "Oh, did I…"

"It's okay Bruce, not your fault."

He looked to Loki, directing his question to him, "I'm not gonna change, I got it under control."

"That isn't it." Loki tensed up, he hated this part, hated having to listen to how badly he'd been disgraced over and over. "He… things didn't go smoothly when he was landed. He was… raped, we found him working as a prostitute." One of Tony's hand moved to the back of his head, stroking softly, "He doesn't like to be touched by people he doesn't know."

Loki peeked out from around Tony's hold, soothed when there was no pity on Banner's face, just a prominent sadness. "Oh. I'm sorry then, I didn't mean to frighten you."

Tony answered, "Really, not your fault Bruce. He's doing a lot better."

_That_ look said everything and Tony tilted his head, he would explain to Bruce just how bad it was later, later when he wasn't holding Loki. He wanted to give Bruce enough information to make sure that the other guy would stay dormant, but he didn't like hashing it out in front of the man in question.

"This is better?"

Tony nodded, lips pressed together in a thin line. He glanced down at Loki, directing his next words at him, "You okay?"

He nodded but made no attempt to move from Tony's arms, even though he did shift his weight so he could see Banner.

Bruce was struggling not to smirk because it seemed like the entirely wrong time but he couldn't help it completely as he quipped, "Seems to have warmed up well to you Tony." That earned him a frown so identical from both of them that he couldn't help but chuckle again, the tension easing out of his shoulders.

"Why didn't you wait till I met with you to come here?"

He shrugged casually but there was more intelligence in his eyes than anyone gave him credit for, Loki could clearly see the cunning that said there were things about the man that were dangerous besides the _other_ guy. "I was curious about what you wanted to keep me from. Figured it must have been something good."

Loki liked the look in his eyes and perhaps Banner was not as bad as he thought. He pulled away from Tony a bit more, though was careful to still hold on tight with one hand as a lifeline. He looked Banner up and down, and finally raised an eyebrow at him, "Hello."

Bruce watched him and then glanced at Tony, some silent question being answered because he straightened, "Hello." Bruce didn't dwell on the Loki, looking instead to Tony, "So I assume there was a reason you called me, and I don't think it was for my _other_ talents."

Tony rolled his eyes at that and let Loki go completely, moving towards the door. "Yes, because what I really need here is more dumb muscle. Captain Spangles provides more than enough of it."

Loki surprised himself by laughing at that, almost instantly more comfortable with Banner than he was with everyone else, except for Tony. There was something that he couldn't put his finger on that put him at ease, even when everything about Banner should have meant more stress.

"Loki, you alright?"

He startled at that, and blushed realizing he had been standing there staring at Banner. He averted his eyes and tried to press against Tony, hiding. Tony's eyes moved between them for a moment, confused. "Did something happen?"

Banner sounded almost regretful, "Maybe I should… uh… leave?"

"Please don't." Loki didn't turn his head away from where he had tucked it against Tony so the words were muffled, but there nonetheless.

Tony spared one arm to wrap around Loki's waist holding him there, "Like he said. Besides, I called you for a reason… well… besides the fact that you are part of the team."

It was an awkward add on at best but Bruce only nodded his understanding, "And what can I help you with?"

Instinctually he tightened his grip on Loki, he knew he wouldn't like the answer, "I need your help to figure out how the hell to get a message to Asgard."

He didn't ask why, it should have been obvious, and for that Tony was grateful. He only gave it a thoughtful look, "Okay, where do I bunk down?"

Tony could only grin, thank god some intellectual back up had arrived.

* * *

"You're _sure_ you don't know how to contact him?"

Loki looked up from the blueprint he was looking at and gave Tony the look that question deserved, and he had the decency to at least look a little sheepish. Sure that he had made his point Loki looked back to his blueprints and for a few moments Tony simply watched him. Whatever he was looking at had him enthralled, which in all actuality should probably make him worried, and was chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully. Tony finally forced himself to look away when a part of him was suddenly _very_ interested in the not quite demi god.

Looking away did no good when he only met Bruce's laughing eyes and just to be an ass he intentionally shoved his hand out, knocking off the tool on the table to loudly clatter to the floor. He didn't have long to enjoy the startled look on Bruce's face (one of these days the others were right and he was gonna startle Bruce enough to get his face beat into the floor by the Hulk) before he realized the scared sound had come from Loki.

The casual interest he had in the work was gone from his face, pale and startled, staring at Tony. He had made it a good few steps towards him, presumably stopping when he realized it had only been a tool falling to the floor. He flushed red, jerkily moving back to his seat, staring down at the desk even though his eyes wouldn't focus on the blueprints.

"Hey Loke, I didn't mean to scare you."

The green eyes snapped up to him, looking something like what he thought a kicked dog looked like. Obviously angry, frustrated but too frightened to say anything further. Tony took a few steps towards him, hesitating when Loki leaned away.

Luckily the awkward moment was broken up by Bruce, who sounded like he was expecting to be criticized. "So, this sounds kind of… amateur but this guy that sees everything…?"

It was directed at Loki and he realized it was a question. "Heimdall."

"Yea, this Heimdall. If we like… talk to Thor would he see it?"

"He sees everything."

"So he's been watching what happened to you all this time?" Tony's voice had lowered, a sharp edge of anger in the words.

Loki reached down to rub his hand over his pants, looking away, "I do not know. He … does not like me. He may have seen my calls for help but chose not to report them."

"What if we call?"

Interest filtered across Loki's face at that and he tilted his head, "Asgard is bound by treaty to respond if Midgard is in dire need. Thor especially, as he is charged with protection of this realm."

That made Tony give an undignified snort of humor and Loki glared at him, "What?"

"Nothing... just… with all this sibling hostility… you must have been tickled that the tesseract ended up here and you could stick it to Thor."

He only raised an eyebrow at him, unwilling to give anything more than that away. Banner spoke up before they could get into a full stare off. "So do we just… talk to him?"

Loki looked up even though the action was unnecessary and then leveled a gaze on Banner, "You can try, but really… at this point he already knows you are looking."

Banner looked up too, "Hey – Thor… we uh… we have your little brother here."

Tony nodded, "We have… trouble. We'd like it if you'd show up."

There was a long moment of silence and Tony was starting to feel a bit foolish and was wondering if Loki was playing some kind of trick. He looked down to him, "How will we know if he hears?"

Suddenly an ominous crack of thunder sounded in the distance and Loki's eyes widened comically, face fearful. "Ah…well…"

Banner glanced at him, mouth quirking, "Scared of a little lightning?"

He only moved to his feet to grab on to Tony and repeated the gist of his words from the helicarrier, "I'm not particularly fond of what follows."

All three cringed as somewhere on a higher floor there was a crash and Tony self-consciously straightened and met Loki's eyes, "Guess big brother got the message."


	8. Chapter 8

They stood frozen for a few minutes before Tony finally moved into action. He pointed at Bruce, "I don't know what is going to happen when they see each other, I think it may be best if you stay on the sidelines just until we're sure there isn't going to be a fight?" His tone was apologetic, and Bruce nodded, "I'll go grab a bite to eat, come get me once you're sure there isn't going to be trouble…" He hesitated, "Or if there is I guess, just be prepared for the collateral damage."

Tony nodded at that, thankful he wasn't going to be difficult and headed towards the door, putting out a hand when Loki tried to follow him. "Let me talk to him first."

He frowned, crossing his arms, obviously distasteful of that but he obediently stepped backwards, "I want to see him. I need to know… need to know if …"

"I know, just let me get an idea of what he wants." He hesitated and his eyes asked Loki to forgive him for even thinking it, "I know your brother wouldn't let this happen but I don't want him to know you are here until I'm sure he's not planning on taking you from us, okay?"

His acceptance was a little less tense at that as he nodded his compliance, "Yes." He paused, because he understood what Tony was saying and it was something important that Tony would stand against a demi god for him. "Thank you."

Tony didn't waste any time before he was running towards the crash and he was not the first to arrive. Already Natasha and Clint were standing there with weapons drawn, looking at the crater in the room, the shattered glass everywhere from where Thor had crashed through the window. Now he could see Steve, hovering over Thor, trying to figure out what was going on.

He rushed forward, shoving him out of the way with a shoulder so when Thor finally stood they were face to … well face to chest anyways. He took a quick step back so he could see Thor's face and the flash of worry went a long way to easing his tension. Thor reached out to grab his arm suddenly, "Stark, Heimdall saw… is my brother here?"

He eased back until Thor let him go and looked between the others before he answered, his voice cautious, "What do you plan on doing with him Thor?"

Relief washed over his face, "You do have him. Is he okay? He…" His voice lowered to a gruff order, "I demand to see him."

Steve moved to Tony's back at the tone, and he noticed his shield was in his hand. "He is staying with us, I just want to make that clear."

Thor looked surprised by that and tilted his head, "He is your prisoner?"

Natasha and Clint were nodding, but Steve was shaking his head. Tony bypassed the question and answered, "I will tell you he is under our protection, so if you plan on doing anything with him that I'm not gonna like, you can leave now."

"I do not wish to harm him. He is my brother."

He finally nodded and looked to Clint and Natasha, "Bring him to the living room. I'm gonna get Loki." He glanced at Steve, giving him a good look, "Please grab Bruce will ya? He's in the kitchen."

He hurried to Loki's room, sure that he was stressed and anxious and didn't want to leave him waiting longer than he had to. He nearly ran into him when he pushed open the door, grinning when he looked at what he was wearing. He had brought him in more clothes and it was obvious Loki was trying to look as…. As much like himself as he could. He was wearing black pants and a green shirt, with a black jacket over it. It wasn't his armor but it was pretty close and gave away how nervous he was.

"Well?"

"He wants to see you. I told him if he's planning on trying to take you… he knows he would have a fight on his hands."

He couldn't help the gratitude that crossed his face and Tony was nice enough to ignore it for the most part, only a smirk telling Loki he saw it. "Come on." He paused, "You sure you're up for this?"

He didn't feel confident but he nodded a yes, his stomach was already tightening in unease at the thought of facing Thor, at the thought that he might have known what was going on, might have watched it and condoned it. He followed Tony closely, finally coming around the corner to see Thor standing there, waiting impatiently.

Loki tensed up when Thor finally came in to view, doing his best to show Thor that he hated him, that he didn't need anyone's help. Nevermind that he had backpedalled until he was up against Tony, that he had made a small imploring sound that had Tony wrapping an arm around his waist.

It was more difficult to stare Thor down when he was huddling against someone but he was doing a pretty decent job if he did say so himself.

"Brother?" He seemed shocked to see him, confusion filtering across his face.

"I am not your Brother."

Tony snorted at that and he was suddenly being pressed forward towards Thor. "Oh no, none of that. I haven't kept track of how many times you've begged for your brother since you got here but I'm guessing Jarvis could tell me."

He turned his glare to Tony, how dare he! Tony wagged a finger at him, warning, and he slid the glare away frowning petulantly.

Thor watched the exchange curiously and seemed to take that at his cue that it was okay to approach. "Brother, I missed you!"

He reached for him, grabbing his arm and dragging him in for a hug, unaware as Loki paled and started scrambling to get away. His voice was pitiful, "Tony…"

Tony jerked forward instantly, grabbing the back of Loki's shirt but Thor had a strong grip. "Woah there big guy, I need you to let him go, okay?"

He frowned, looking down, realizing his brother looked terrified, "Loki? What is wrong?"

"I'll explain, just let him go Thor, please." He dropped his arms and Tony was able to pull Loki to him, cradling him against his chest, "He doesn't like when he can't move."

"What is going on?"

Tony nodded his head towards the room behind him, "Come in and talk, we're hoping you can fill in some of the blanks.' He tilted his head down, almost pressed against Loki's hair. "Quit being such a brat and tell him you're glad he's here."

"Why?"

Tony raised an eyebrow, resisting the urge to say because he said so. "He's a good guy, and you know that you're glad he's here."

The look Loki gave Tony almost made Thor fear for his safety but Tony looked completely unfazed as he stared him down. Finally Loki let out an annoyed sound and turned to Thor. Thor put his hand up, voice sad, "I do not wish you to lie to me brother."

Loki stared at him and finally rolled his eyes but then looked at the floor. Thor couldn't help but notice that when he reached a hand back Tony took it. When his eyes came up off the floor they were sincere, "I'm … I've needed you."

Shock shook Thor, it had been too long since Loki had said anything sincere to him. He took a few steps forward but Loki retreated and his eyes were mostly hurt when he looked back up, "You lied to me."

"What?"

"Gentleman, can we please take this into the living room? The others are there waiting." Neither of the men moved, Thor looking at Loki like he was the saddest most lost puppy ever and Loki, Loki was hiding himself carefully against Tony. He sighed, "Loki, living room. Now."

He stiffened up momentarily at the command, and he was certain it had more to do with him telling him what to do in front of Thor than anything else. He did untangle himself from Tony though, giving him a dirty look, and headed back into the living room.

Tony turned to face Thor only to find himself facing a hammer. He stumbled back, "Woah, what the hell Thor?"

"What have you done to him?"

"I… nothing!"

The hammer didn't lower, "He wouldn't allow himself to be tamed by a human."

Tony opened his mouth to answer, surprised by his own anger. _He_ wasn't the one that had sent Loki to Earth helpless. He just shook his head and turned his back to him, heading into the room, sure he would follow.

Steve, Natasha and Clint were squished together on a couch made for two people, leaving the larger couch to Loki and Tony. Which just made so little sense that Tony again wondered how they managed to defeat _anyone_. It didn't surprise him though. He glanced around, "Where's Banner?"

Steve shrugged and didn't meet his eyes, "He didn't want to come up."

He frowned at that but quickly forgot as he was surprised that Loki didn't curl against him, he sat on the far edge of the couch, pressed in against the corner. Tony raised an eyebrow at him, the god had practically been glued to his side the last few days. Loki looked away briefly, looking back up with a scowl but there was nervousness behind it, a silent plea to let him look stronger in front of Thor.

He nodded, reaching out to touch Loki's shoulder, "I'm right here though, okay?" There was a small nod and Tony moved to the other side of the couch and sprawled out, giving Loki his space.

Thor watched the exchange, his eyebrows pulling together, clearly confused. After a moment he seemed to decide and whipped around to Tony, pointing Mjolnir at him. "What did you _do_-"

"Do not threaten him!"

Loki had come to his feet, fists balled as he stared down Thor… or stared at his shoulder was more accurate. He still couldn't meet his eyes. Thor's tone was soft, "Brother… Loki?'

"Just, _please_, … Stark is a friend. Do not.. do not threaten him." He waited for a few moments and slid back on to the couch, significantly closer to Tony this time.

"Of course." He glanced around and sat in the only space left, the lone arm chair and let his hammer thunk to the floor, the others in the room cringing at the sound. "So what has happened?" He eyed Loki, "You said I lied.'

"You did."

They all waited for some kind of elaboration on that but Loki looked almost as if he was sulking, arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the ground. Thor frowned, looking around for help but met equally clueless gazes, "What did I lie about?"

He shifted and Tony edged a little closer to him, hand reaching out to hover carefully before pulling back, remembering at the last minute that he wanted space. Loki looked up at that, watching Tony for long moments before going back to looking at the floor. "You said I would be okay. That someone… that there would be help when I landed."

Thor tilted his head, looking for all the world like a confused puppy, "There should have been, when I landed Jane took me for medical care and food-"

Loki's arms uncrossed, flying out to his sides, fists balled. "Food! There was no food! Nobody told me… there was no one to help, and I was so hungry and no one would tell me how to get food so I _took_ some and I was … I was _arrested!_"

Tony had been watching Thor's expressions but at that he snapped his head around to look at Loki, that was news to him, Jarvis hadn't even found any arrest records. "You were _arrested_?"

He looked suddenly sheepish, "Yes, I…" He frowned, and at least it looked more embarrassed than anything else, "They thought I was crazy." His face clouded over after that though and he moved close enough to Tony so that their knees touched, "They put me in a… a cage with others that had committed crimes. They… the other criminals, it was the first time I realized I couldn't fight well enough to protect myself." His eyes skittered up to meet Tony's and he didn't know if he would understand what had happened to him there. Was that a common occurrence in Earth cages… he rather hoped it wasn't.

"Loki, do you mean… did they?"

Rather than answer he moved the last bit between them, pressing against Tony's side and Tony took that as the okay to wrap his arm around him. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

He was quiet for a moment, pretending that Thor wasn't watching him break down a little, like he wasn't recounting another humiliation in front of his brother. "Paul was there. In the cage. He said… he told me that he would get me out if…"

Tony's lips thinned and he didn't care if it upset him, he pulled Loki tight against him, protectively. He had almost forgotten that Thor was there till he made a sound as he shifted. "I don't understand what has happened."

Loki snapped a warning look around the room, happy to keep Thor in the dark. It faltered when he reached Tony though and he frowned. "He doesn't need to know."

Thor stumbled to his feet, face nearly frantic with concern, "Brother, please talk to me." Now that he was looking at him he could see that he was in bad shape, and not just physically. He looked frightened, angry too. He decided angry was as good an emotion to go with, "Tell me who hurt you, I will kill him."

"Them, Thor, them." He took Tony's hand and looked at him instead of Thor, Tony giving him a grim nod of encouragement. "I was raped. Several times. By several people."

"Impossible!" Somewhere outside thunder rolled through the sky making them all cringe and he charged forward, reaching out to grab Loki and drag him away from Tony, "What mortals would dare defile a son of Odin?"

Loki struggled away, voice an angry hiss, "A little late to be concerned now, isn't it? Perhaps when I was being sent here _helpless_ it should have been a concern!" He tugged uselessly on his arm, "Let me go you brute!" Thor only pulled him closer, struggling to understand what was going on, and Loki's panic reached a new level when he continued to yank his arm away.

"Let him go now Thor, or I'm getting the suit."

His voice was deathly quiet, really threatening, and Thor let Loki go almost before he really considered it. Tony moved quickly, grabbing Loki and pushing him to sit back on the couch, placing himself between them. Thor eyed him, looking a little wild, "I wasn't hurting him, he's my brother."

"You were scaring him, and he asked you to let him go."

Thor's eyebrows went up at that, and he looked to Loki for confirmation, "You are afraid of me?"

"No." The word was stubborn, automatic, but Loki wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Loki, I'm your brother, you do not need to fear me."

Tony stepped a little to the side when Thor moved, keeping himself in between them, "Thor, you didn't know what was happening to him?"

He shook his head, hair flying, "No, shortly after Loki left we were unable to see him… unable to contact him. We thought he had found a way around his binding." He finally reached out a hand to stop Tony from moving in his way and stepped directly in front of Loki. "We thought you escaped, Brother. Odin was furious."

Loki looked confused, "I… I was right where you left me."

"Heimdall couldn't see you. He said you must be using your magic to block him like before."

"I have no magic, you knew that!" He looked like he wanted to move to his feet but it would bring him too close to Thor, "He was lying!"

Thor frowned, "Heimdall does not lie…. Perhaps someone else was interfering…"

"I called for you! Did he not see that either?"

Tony stood between them suddenly, pushing Thor back. "Sit down big guy, why don't you explain to us what happened? How did he end up here?"

He was still staring at Loki, angry, hurt but looked to Tony. "Allfather wanted him to learn a lesson. He stripped him of his magic and god hood and sent him to Earth to repent, to learn a lesson."

Clint snorted at that, "Gee, nice of you to let us know that."

Thor glanced at them and the look wasn't entirely friendly, "I did not think you would give him a fair chance. He deserved a fair chance."

The casualness shifted off his face and Clint fingered his bow, "You should have talked to us, we're supposed to be _teammates_." He sent Loki an apologetic look, "Maybe you shouldn't have expected him to arrive to the same situation as you, would have saved your little brother from getting practically enslaved."

His eyes left Clint to look back at Loki, "Enslaved?"

Loki was saved from having to answer as there was a sound from the door, Banner leaning against it casually, "Guess I'm late to the party." There was a note of accusation in his voice and Tony's eyes snapped to Steve.

"I asked you to get him, you said that he didn't want to come up."

Steve shifted uncomfortably on the couch, looking down, properly chagrinned, "I thought things might get a little… heated."

"He's a big boy captain, he can make his own decisions."

"I was just trying to-"

The entire room was silenced as Thor's hammer came down with a crash into the coffee table, shattering it, shaking the entire room. They nearly all flinched and Loki curled into Ton as they all stared at the enraged god who looked furious, frighteningly determined as he growled out, "I will crush every one of them!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** For my world Pepper and Tony realized pretty quickly that what they had was a solid (slightly co-dependent) friendship but nothing more. I have a hard time buying Pepper and Tony as a couple – she is too much of a mother type with him, taking care of him and what not. So that is where it stands in my world!

* * *

For a moment everybody just… stared. Thor's chest was heaving, eyes wild, and if Tony was honest he was a little afraid. He pulled Loki closer without thinking about it, rubbing his arm. He had gone stock still in Tony's grip, and Tony expected him to be afraid but he was staring at Thor with something close to… awe. It was enough to make him relax a little because the look was too obvious not to recognize as anything other than what it was. A little brother amazed by his older brother.

"You okay?"

Loki nodded tightly and when he pulled away Tony let him, and he rocked to his feet in front of Thor. Thor had been holding the hammer like he was ready to attack but when Loki moved into his space he pulled it back, making sure not to bump into him. His eyes were wide and he reached out one hand to almost touch Loki's shoulder but seemed to remember at the last moment that Loki was so skittish and pulled his hand away.

Loki's darted out though, catching his, holding it like he had back on Asgard when he was sentenced. "You didn't know." It was a statement but he stared at Thor like he was waiting for answer, and the rest of the room faded away.

"I didn't know Loki." His voice was rising, angry, "You think that I would have stood by while… while humans…"

At that Loki turned his head away, dropping Thor's hand and reached for Tony instead. He moved to his feet at that so he could stand next to him and Thor eyed the exchange carefully, frowning. Loki repeated what he had said before, "You didn't know."

Thor's voice was tinged with desperation, "I _didn't know_." He seemed to become aware of the audience in the room and glanced around before he landed on Steve. He was someone that understood. He pointed at him, "Take me to these people."

Steve's eyes widened at that and he looked to Natasha who shrugged. It was Tony that broke in. "Hey big guy, I know you're upset but you can't just go around…" He seemed to think about it and glanced at Loki and shrugged, "Well, actually I don't think it's all that bad an idea."

He was getting dirty looks from the others in the room at that though and he relented, pulling Loki to sit down and tilting his head at Thor to do the same, "Why don't you have a seat, we can talk-"

"I do not wish to talk. Tell me where these men are Tony Stark, they will not live through the night."

"Please sit down Thor, your hammer is not the answer to everything."

Loki's voice was steadier than Tony had heard since he arrived, sounding so close to the super villain that had tried to take over earth that for a moment Tony was anxious, but even though Loki sounded more like himself he was still nearly curled around Tony, holding on to him like a lifeline.

"You do not wish me to kill these men?"

"Oh I wish it." Loki looked down at his lap and the new confident tone wavered and he sounded scared, lost, "I'd like nothing more, brother, but please listen to Stark. I understand that… you can't simply… it doesn't matter what they did to me. There are … human rules that need to be upheld." He glanced at Tony, looking for something like approval and Tony reached up to touch the side of his face, corners of his mouth tilting up.

Thor looked displeased with that, "We are above human law."

Loki looked like he wanted to agree but he shrugged, leaning more fully into Tony, "And I'm human now, so it applies to me."

Bruce's voice piped up, "I'd think we should have a say, no? I mean… you guys sent him here for human justice-"

Outraged Thor's voice rose, "You call this justice?"

Bruce took a deep breathe at that, letting it out slowly and caution made its way even through Thor's thick skull and he eased his stance a little. Bruce shook his head, "No, of course not. But you raining down death in the middle of the city will only cause a panic. Maybe you should just… step back a moment and talk to him."

Tony silently thanked Bruce for somehow being the sanest person in the room as eyed Loki and Thor. "I think that maybe… maybe we should give them a moment." Loki was shaking his head at that but Tony nodded, glancing between the others to see the same idea on their faces, "A little family time." He leaned down to Loki, "You'll be fine."

Thor obliged him and without being told backed off a little to give Loki room, and they cleared out until it was only the three of them. He pulled Loki close for a moment, letting their faces touch, "Just call for me and I'll be here."

He nodded and turned his head towards him and they were so close that when he turned their lips brushed, so unintentional and unexpected that they both jerked away, eyes wide. They stared at each other, until a blush ran up Tony's face as he glanced at Thor, "Uh, so yea, I was just… leaving. Right." He gave Thor and then Loki the most charming smile he could come up with and backed out of his room, counting himself lucky that he didn't meet a very bloody end by an oversized hammer.

Loki watched him go, one hand reaching up to touch his lips before he self-consciously dropped his hand. He tried to school his face to show nothing and finally met Thor's eyes, his façade slipping at the emotion plain on Thor's face. He twisted his mouth into a sneer, sure that even if he couldn't put the anger behind it that Thor would be fooled, "You advocated him sending me here."

Thor didn't look like he was buying it though and he shook his head, "How could I know this would happen? I thought-"

"You thought, _you_ thought?" Loki threw up his hands in anger, though he was still careful to keep himself at a distance, though he couldn't stop his rant, not once got going. "Oh, if the all-powerful and mighty Thor thought it, then it _must_ have been true!"

"Loki, I couldn't have known-"

"No! No! I get to talk, you let me be thrown down here when I couldn't even defend myself for half the time, you let me be muzzled like a common dog!"

"Loki I-"

"I told you I would be in danger, that being sent here wouldn't go well but you didn't listen, you _never_ have listened to me!"

"Loki!" Thor finally stepped forward, grabbing Loki by the arm and shaking him hard enough to cut off whatever he was gonna say and nearly snarled out, "Let me talk!"

"Don't touch me!" Loki's voice had been rising but at that it went high and squeaky and he backpedalled till his legs hit the couch, making him straighten and snarl out like a trapped animal, "Don't you dare touch me."

Thor's face twisted in pain and he reached out slowly, settling his hand on Loki's shoulder much more gently. "Please Loki, let me talk."

He pressed his lips together in a thin line, and settled for glaring at Thor. He knew that he was being unpredictable, that he wanted Thor to pull him in a hug, protect him from everything like he had when they were young but he just couldn't let himself fall into that trap. He was too hurt, too damaged, too _angry_ to fall into the role of the doting younger brother.

"After you left I tried to get Odin to allow me to come to Earth and help you. He… would not allow me. And then you disappeared and you couldn't be seen, couldn't be found. I was… I feared for your safety."

Loki let one eyebrow go up at that, disbelieving that Thor would admit to fearing anything. Thor paused like he was sure that Loki would have something to say but he remained silent, if Thor could surprise him he could return the favor.

"I searched the realms for you. I had only just arrived home when Heimdall told me that the humans were calling for me. That they seemed to know where you were."

"I was where I was left Thor. You have to see that Heimdall was lying, Thor, that he knew what was going on."

"Heimdall doesn't-"

He bared his teeth at that, some of the instability he had felt since falling coming through, "He hates me Thor, that makes people do horrible things."

Thor grimaced at the anger and when he answered his own voice was low, pointed, "Like when you dropped me to my death?" He tried not to make it seem as important a question as it was, he had never asked Loki about it, hadn't wanted to acknowledge that he would have sent him to his death.

Loki only waved his hand though, voice dismissive, "You wouldn't have died."

It shocked him that it meant so little to Loki and he tried again, "You couldn't have known that."

He was already shaking his head though, "A little fall? You're Thor, of course I knew that wouldn't kill you."

It was so matter of fact, so disinterested, that Thor realized it was the truth. He leaned back on his heels and couldn't help his mouth twitching, a smile threatening. "You have that much faith in me?"

"What? No." He seemed to realize what he had said, what it _meant_, and blushed suddenly, looking away. "I knew you wouldn't die. That's all that means."

"Of course." Normally he would have pushed, sometimes just to watch Loki squirm, but there were bigger things to deal with and he carefully pushed on, "What happened Loki?"

He stared at the ground for a long time until he finally slid his gaze to Thor's shoulder, and spoke haltingly, "I got here and there was nobody to help. When I looked for help the people that I met were less than gracious."

Thor struggled with that, trying to wait for Loki to continue but he only stood there looking angry, "And they violated you?"

He let out a sharp bark of laughter at that, though there was no humor in it. "Sure. They did. Paul did. My customers did."

"Customers?"

He shook himself out of his stupor and looked up, "Jarvis, please send Tony in, I don't want to be here."

"No, wait." Thor shook his head, "I just want to understand what happened."

Jarvis's voice came through, "Shall I call Mr. Stark?"

Loki felt like he was starting to get a twitch in his eye and that was just undignified. "No… no, not yet." His hand clenched and he found himself wishing that Tony was there to be close to him, to hold him. Despite the situation his mind drifted for a moment to the feeling of Stark's lips on his and that it had felt nice, even as his body tensed up at the thought of kissing _anyone_.

He forced the words out before he lost his nerve. "I met a man that said he would help me. He made me…" He was starting to choke up, Tony and the others had seen more than what he would tell Thor, but it didn't change that it was the first time he had to really vocalize everything. "He made recordings of sex, made me be in them. Tony called them," he struggled to remember the word, "pornography. They sell it on Earth." A quick glance up and he saw that Thor looked horrified, like he was going to be sick and he quickly finished, "I was told to," the words were bitter in his mouth, "have sex with customers for money. That is where Stark found me."

"You allowed yourself to be sold?"

"I didn't _allow_ anything Thor, I had no choice!" He made a few small sounds as he fought back the tears, he would not cry in front of Thor.

"Of course, I didn't mean-"

"Why did it work for you? Why did you land and meet a woman and she took care of you and 3 days later you were allowed back home?"

He didn't know what to say to that and searched for anything to wipe the hurt of Loki's face, the accusation, and though he knew he was reaching he finally settled for mumbling out, "Stark found you though." As soon as he heard his own words he let a hiss of air slide between his teeth, "What exactly is it that you and Stark are doing?"

"Nothing."

"You kissed."

He rolled his shoulders, he didn't know what he felt for Stark, only that Stark felt safe, "It was an accident."

"I see." He fingered the handle of the hammer, "I'm going to kill every one of them Loki, I swear that I will."

"Good." There were no humans to appease, nothing to stop him from being honest and hoping that Thor would take care of it, it was a familiar feeling and he let himself just go with it, he would feel ashamed at giving in later. He finally looked up and met Thor's eyes for a moment before he looked back down, "But not yet, don't…" He took a deep breath and made sure that his voice didn't shake. "Don't leave, not yet."

Loki missed seeing the grin that split Thor's face, but he could hear it in his voice, "Of course brother. I will stay."

* * *

"Sir, Loki is asking for you."

Tony had been hovering in the hallway, even after the others had dispersed into the house, bored with waiting. He was in the room in seconds, heading straight for Loki, reaching out like it was a second nature. As if it was the same for Loki he moved forward, tucking himself against Tony, his look daring Thor to say anything.

Thor still didn't look thrilled with the way Tony touched his brother but his posture had eased, in fact, Loki's had as well. "Get things all… talked out?"

"For now." He looked till him and Tony locked eyes and he couldn't help his voice coming out wobbly, nerves or something else he couldn't put his finger on. "Can I go back to my room, I'm tired."

"Yea, I'll take you." He turned to Thor, "We good?"

"Of course Stark. Thank you… thank you for taking care of him."

He nodded as he led Loki out of the room, heading down the hallway in silence. He finally couldn't stand it anymore, "So how are you doing? What was it like seeing big brother?"

"Always a joy. Like being run over by a horse." He kicked at the ground as he walked, "A big dumb horse."

"Of course." He rubbed the back of his neck and blurted out, "About that kiss…"

They stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked at each other and Loki tilted his head, "That was hardly a kiss."

It caught Tony off guard and he stumbled over his words, "Well, I mean… yea of course." He was unsure but it was still a field that he was too good at, too practiced in to back down, "It was an accident, if I had kissed you you'd be swooning right now."

"Is that so?" It felt dangerous, Loki was hardly a stranger to seduction, from both sides, but his heart sped up, his pulse racing as he watched to see what Tony would do.

"That's so." He was surprised after what happened that Loki was responding as he was, but it would have been obvious to anyone that the not quite god was flirting with him. He moved slowly, making sure not to startle Loki, but steadily backed him against the wall, watching carefully for any sign that he was afraid, that it was too much. His pupils were dilated though and his breathing was speeding up.

Tony reached up to touch the side of his face, hand slipping back to Loki's hair, and they stayed frozen that way for a long moment before Tony started to lean forward. Their lips had barely brushed each other when Jarvis was suddenly talking, jarring them both, making Tony glare at the ceiling.

"Sir?"

"I'm busy!" The moment was gone though and Loki leaned away, shooting nervous glances at Tony and then down the hall. Tony sighed but leaned back a little, giving him space and snarled out, "This better be good Jarvis."

"Yes sir. Director Fury is at the front door. He is demanding a meeting with you."

Loki's eyes widened, suddenly terrified, but Tony gave him a mischievous look, pulling him into a reassuring one arm hug. "Oh good. Now the fun can start." Loki watched him and when the fear eased a bit he leaned into Tony, missing as his smile wilted around the edges, some worry shining through. He finally made a decision and let go of Loki, giving him a push towards his room. "Maybe… maybe it's best if you wait here for a bit."

He nodded compliantly at that, moving into his room but stopped in the door way, not sure what he wanted to say. "Tony…"

It was the tone, the raw emotion, and Tony turned to grab Loki, caution be damned and slammed their mouths together, half expecting to be pushed away. He wasn't though and Loki grabbed on to his shirt, pulling him closer, mouth opening to Tony's tongue. It seemed like a lifetime before Tony finally pulled back, panting, and rested his forehead against Loki's.

"Sir, Director Fury is becoming quite impatient."

"Alright, alright, tell him I'm on my way." He traced his thumb over Loki's lips and pulled back, "It will be okay. I'll be back soon." He didn't want for an answer, eyes slipping to look at Loki's lips before looking back up and giving him a wink.

Loki watched him turn and go before heading into his room, not paying much mind to that he hadn't been locked in. He wasn't going anywhere. Idly he looked at the tv in the room and raised his voice in question, "So Jarvis, could I possibly have a visual of the director?"

"Of course, sir." The tv lit up, an angry Fury pacing the room and with nothing else to do Loki sat down anxiously to watch.


	10. Chapter 10

Halfway there Jarvis informed Tony that Fury had let himself in, and that Loki was currently watching him from his room. Tony didn't rush, stopping to get himself a drink before he strolled into the lounge, acting like it was perfectly normal to have an angry director of SHIELD stomping around the room. He took a sip of his drink and leaned against the door, "Director Fury, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

He looked… well… furious as he whirled to face Tony, "What is going on?"

"I'm sorry, going on with what?" He took another sip of his drink thoughtfully and added, "I shouldn't be so rude. Would you like a drink?"

He stalked towards him, and a lesser man might have been daunted but there wasn't much that intimidated Tony. "Don't play dumb with me, Stark."

Tony didn't like how he was being boxed in against the wall and pushed away, forcing Fury to have to back up. "I'm afraid I just don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh. Do you want to explain why our sensors picked up an electrical storm several hours ago that seemed to be centered around _your_ tower?"

"Thor?" It was a struggle but he didn't let the surprise into his voice and said it again, voice stronger. "Thor, that is what this visit is about?"

Fury looked like he really could use a drink, "What did you think I was here for Stark? To discuss your interior design? Tell me, why is Thor here?"

"A guy can't visit his friends?"

"It's not just him either. Natasha and Clint are here, Banner, Rogers… you're telling me it's just for a visit?"

"Well if you must know we were planning you a surprise party. A piñata, pony rides, big cake-"

"You think this is a joke?"

On the inside Tony was trying not to panic, Fury didn't know about Loki, had only come about Thor. "I can get the big guy for you if you want, you can talk to him directly. " He made a movement like he was heading towards the door and raised an eyebrow, "Anyone else I can get for you?"

Much to his relief Fury appeared to be calming down, relaxing a little, "If it's not … too much trouble."

Tony shrugged, "Jarvis, can you please… explain to Thor that Director Fury is here because of his arrival last night and wants to… talk to him about it?"

"Of course sir."

"You sure you don't want a drink? It does wonders for the psyche." He knew he was talking too much but he was right on edge. He didn't feel conflicted about keeping the information from Fury, he had done enough of his own covert digging to know that he didn't want Loki in SHIELD's clutches, but he wasn't sure if the others agreed with him. Or how long he could get them to keep quiet if they didn't.

He was saved from worry when the door slammed open, making him cringe. Thor barreled into the room, a large grin on his face, "Fury, my friend!" Tony was impressed as Fury held his ground as Thor stomped towards him, reaching out to shake his hand with enough force that he nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Thor." He finally pulled his hand away, "We were surprised to see you back on Earth without any…" he hesitated for a moment before finishing, "without notice."

He nodded like that was nothing important, "I came for a visit with my fellow warriors, it has been many months since I've seen them."

"So this isn't about Loki?" Straight to the point, as always.

Thor was painfully unfamiliar with having any sense of duplicity so Tony elbowed him pointedly when he froze and his face paled, and hurried to distract Fury. "You think there is something going on with Loki?" His voice lilted up, intentionally coloring it was a vague curiousness.

"We haven't heard anything." His glance was suspicious though and landed on Thor, "We trust he is still imprisoned?"

"Of… course. Yes."

"Are you sure?"

Tony nearly shoved in between them, "It's his brother. Probably a sore subject. I'm sure there is other stuff you could be doing, top secret SHIELD paperwork…"

He was counting on the fact that even on a good day Fury seemed barely able to stand him and he was rewarded with him moving towards the door, slowly but surely. He addressed Thor, "If there is any trouble you would contact us, correct?"

His tone was warning but it went over Thor's head, who was nodded so hard Tony was sure he was gonna knock something loose. "Of course. I'm just here visiting my good friends."

"Right." Fury gave Tony a look that was definitely a warning and he gave his best disarming smile back. It made Fury scowl but he headed towards the door, stopping just before he went through it, resting one hand on the door jam as he turned back to Tony. "We'll be… keeping an eye on you, you know … just in case something happens."

Unable to resist he threw him a jovial wave, "Pleasure seeing you again Director, please feel free to stop by anytime during my consultation hours!"

Once he was completely gone Tony let out a shaky breathe, glancing at Thor, "You know, I don't approve of his whole taking over the world thing but you could learn a thing or two from your brother about... ya know, lying."

"Trickery is for the weak."

Tony had already been about to talk when that caught him up, making his pause, eyeing Thor to see if he was being serious and he certainly looked like he was. He tilted his head, "Is that… a general consensus on Asgard?"

He looked at him askew, "Of course. Real warriors use strength, it is only if you aren't not strong enough that one would need to use spells and deceit."

He didn't sound cruel, somehow not even condescending, more like he was reading from a text book. A piece of the puzzle fell into place and Tony nodded, "So they didn't think too highly of Loki's… abilities then?"

He chuckled, "Sorcery is for women. He is good at it, true, but he only turned to it after he failed out of the battle ring." He must have seen something on his face because Thor was quick to add, "I always protected him though, I didn't let anyone hurt him."

The images flashed through Tony's mind quickly, taking in everything that Thor was saying and he could get a pretty clear picture of what life had been like for Loki. He understood something else too, his voice tired, "He really thought you were going to go save him."

Thor nodded at that, and his tone matched Tony's, "I tried to. I couldn't find him." They stared at each other for a long moment and Thor finally added, his voice quiet, "I don't know what is going on with you and my brother, but if you hurt him-"

"I saved him." It was true enough he supposed though the childish glee he felt at the hurt that crossed Thor's face faded too soon, forcing him to add, "Nothing is going on between us."

A hand slapped against his back, making him pitch forward nearly into the wall, "I know what I see Tony Stark. My brother…"

"Loki!" He glanced guiltily up at the camera, realizing that Loki must be nearly climbing up the wall waiting to find out what happened and he took off in that direction, missing the smug look on Thor's face as he took off.

He stood there for a moment watching Tony's retreating back before he snorted, "Nothing going on he says." He wasn't worried, Tony Stark may have his problems but he was a good man, not unlike his brother. With a mental shrug he turned, heading towards where he was almost positive the kitchen was, it had to be time for some kind of meal.

* * *

Tony didn't bother to knock, he was sure Loki was waiting for him, would know he was coming. Loki jumped when the door opened and scared eyes skittered past Tony, presumably to see if anyone else was coming.

"Just me."

He visibly relaxed at that, though he held himself awkwardly, hands twisting the bottom of his shirt. "Does he know? What is he going to do with me?"

Tony was already shaking his head. "He doesn't. He had no idea you were here."

His surprise at that was enough to actually make the fear falter and he blurted out, "Then why was he here?"

Steadily Tony had been moving towards Loki, fighting a grin when he realized Loki came to him easily without flinching, even with the bed so close. Once he could touch him, comfort him, he shrugged, "They saw the storms, new Thor was here, wanted to know why."

"Thor… _Thor_?" Loki jerked backwards, eyes wide. "It's always about Thor!"

Though he tried to reel him back in Loki wasn't having it and pulled back further, clenching his hands. "Hey… that's a good thing, remember? The whole… prisoner of war and torture thing?"

He wasn't sure which part of that caught Loki's attention but his eyes skittered away to look at the floor and his shoulders hunched. "Of course… of course." He looked up and it was almost petulant, "Everything is all about Thor and it's for the best, of course it is."

Tony reached out to firmly grab his arm and pull him close, one arm keeping him there even though Loki didn't seem like he was planning on pulling away. He didn't like to see the fear but it gave him hope that Loki was still able to make the petty sibling rivalry comments. "He lied for you."

"What?'

"Thor. Fury wanted to talk to him and asked where you were. He said you were still imprisoned on Asgard."

There were a few fine trembles moving through Loki's body and Tony thought he was crying but he realized he was chuckling. "Surely Fury knows the truth then, Thor is a terrible liar."

Encouraged by Loki's response he casually added, "He mentioned… he mentioned that your… magic was not appreciated on Asgard."

He held completely still for a moment and then relaxed against Tony but his voice was anything but relaxed, "It was not."

It was obviously a touchy subject but Tony had never been good at knowing when to let things go, "Then why did you … pursue it?"

He shifted his weight, "I … I had an affinity for it. One that I did not have for other endeavors that they hold in high esteem."

Tony couldn't help make a face at that, it was a wordy response and he had a feeling it was how Loki hid his feelings. He braced himself, "You mean sparring, right? Thor said that you didn't fare well in the battle rings."

He knew he had pushed it too far when Loki's voice came out cold and bitter, "Yes, I've come so far, haven't I?"

At a loss as to how to answer Tony let his arm go and stepped back, "Well I… I'll just leave you to… whatever you were doing." He wasn't angry, he was just a little slow to realize that being weak wasn't probably something that Loki wanted to talk about.

"You're leaving?"

He stopped and rubbed at the back of his neck, "Fury mentioned that they were going to be keeping an eye on us… so try to stay away from the big windows, and definitely no going outside."

Loki was beginning to look a little panicked, "I didn't know I _could_ leave."

"You can't."

It was awkward, and Loki took a step towards Tony but backed down, looking away and crossing his arms over his stomach. "Of course."

"I didn't mean to…" He waved his hand but frowned, he was used to knowing that he did something wrong, put his foot in his mouth, but he wasn't really used to caring. "Are you… okay?" Loki didn't answer, only curled his arms closer around him and Tony tilted his head. Actually… dealing with chicks there were down were one of his specialties, this wasn't too far off.

"Hey, come here." He dragged a slightly resisting Loki to him and reached out to take his chin and tilted it up so he could see his eyes. He let his hand cup the side of his face, gently tracing his lip with his thumb. "Talk to me."

Loki's eyes narrowed, he didn't know what about Tony's words he didn't like, but something set him on edge. Something reminded him of Paul. He took too long to answer and Tony took it as an invitation, leaning forward to pull him into a kiss. He didn't resist, couldn't bring himself to, but fear spilled down his spine making him shake. He had enjoyed kissing Tony but something about this felt… too planned, to fake.

It took Tony a few minutes to realize that Loki wasn't kissing back and now he could feel his shaking, and he even he couldn't lie to himself that it was because he was aroused. "What's wrong?"

"It's too much. Too much."

"Hey that's okay, I just thought you wanted it." He pulled back abruptly though, his face turning red and before Loki could say anything he was stumbling backwards out of the door. "Remember about the windows."

Loki scrubbed at his face when the door shut, he wasn't sure what had just happened. He wanted to see Tony, wanted to be close to him, and he could kick himself for pushing him away. Seeing Thor had thrown him though, he wondered where he was. He had a few new things to say to him, especially concerning how Thor shouldn't be broadcasting his downfalls. He did enough of that while they were still on Asgard.

With a self-conscious glance at the camera he pulled out the pajamas he had worn that first day, complete with Captain America t-shirt and crawled into bed. It had been a long day and he just needed some rest.

* * *

Tony stormed past the living room where Steve, Thor and Clint sat, only stopping long enough to get a drink before heading to his room.

"I wonder what happened to him."

Thor tilted his head knowingly and shrugged, "I would guess Loki."

Steve and Clint exchanged a look and after a moment of silent argument Clint asked, "So… you're okay with what is going on with them?"

He raised an eyebrow, "What exactly is going on with them?"

Steve blushed and looked away, "Nothing for all we know." He ignored Clint snickering at him and added, "Did you talk with your brother, how do you think he's doing?"

"I'm not sure. The things he said… he told you what happened to him?"

Steve was nodding, "I was with Tony when we found him-"

"And we all saw the videos, well, except for Banner."

There was a long pause and Thor wouldn't look at Steve as he added, "Are the people that violated him in the videos?"

"Well yea."

"May I see them?"

Clint shrugged, "I'm not sure why you'd want to, they are pretty brutal."

Steve started to say something to Thor but gave Clint a funny look, "You watched more of them."

He only shrugged, "I was curious." He looked a little ill, "They got worse."

"I have… nothing to say to that." He turned to Thor, "I know you want revenge on these men, we do too Thor."

Unhelpfully Clint added, "Of course even if we find them it's not like we can charge them, we'd have to show the videos and all that and it would kind of a give away that we have Loki here."

"I wish to see the videos. I want to know what was done to him."

"Loki asked us not to."

Lightning crackled outside the window, making Clint and Steve cringe. He didn't want to but he finally sighed, "Jarvis, Thor wishes to see some of the footage of Loki."

There was no answer and Steve looked up, a habit he would never be able to break. "Jarvis?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Rogers, Mr. Stark has removed access to the files."

"What, why?"

"He did not give me a reason. You will have to speak with him personally."

He expected Thor to be angry but there was an odd smile on his face as he leaned back into the couch, "Very well. I will ask him the next time I speak with him about… Loki. I'm sure he will have much to say on the topic."

* * *

Loki was back on his knees, hands tied behind his back enough to hurt, and the blindfold over his eyes kept him from seeing who was in the room with him. He jerked his head side to side wildly, trying to hear if anyone was approaching.

Just when he finally decided that he was alone he started to lean back only to have a crop strike hard across his back, making him cry out.

"Did I tell you that you could move?"

He let out a sob at that, fearful, frustrated as he settled back on his knees. He squeaked out, "Paul, please, I'm sorry."

He chuckled, low, dark a sad mockery of Loki's own laugh. He was shoved forward suddenly and someone he didn't know what in the room grabbed his wrists, holding him there as Paul approached from behind him. "Oh, Tucker, you're going to be, I'm gonna make you scream."

"No!"

His own scream woke him up and Loki found himself drenched in sweat, asleep in his room in the Avenger Tower. He was breathing hard, trying to clear his mind of the dream, of the memory, and the dark in the room pressed in at him. It crossed his mind that he could try to find Thor, more than once when they were little he crawled into bed with him to keep the monsters at bay but no, he wouldn't do that. He wasn't a child anymore and if he ever wanted Thor to treat him like the adult he was, he needed to act like it.

It didn't change that his heart was racing, and he had no idea how he would get back to sleep. He took a couple of deep breaths before coming to a decision, "Jarvis, is Tony still up?"

"Yes sir, he's in his room."

"Can I… can I go there?"

"He has not instructed me to keep you locked in your room so you are free to move through the tower."

"Thank you." He scrambled out of bed and pulled open the dresser where his clothes were kept, digging to the bottom until he reached a sleeveless black shirt and denim pants that he hadn't worn since Tony found him on the street. He was uneasy about it, feeling his stomach flip as he pulled on the clothes but he pushed through. Tony had been so good to him, so helpful, he just wanted to somehow pay him back. There were very few things he was good at, very little that he could _give_ Tony, but his dream had reminded him of the only thing that he was good at anymore.

He shifted uneasily in the clothes, forcing back a grimace as he muttered, "Please tell him I'm coming Jarvis, tell him… tell him I have something for him."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** Yes, yes I know. I'm sorry, believe me – I'm trying!

* * *

Loki moved nervously through the hallways, not sure what he was doing. He had one hand pressed over his stomach, feeling sick. He hesitated when he reached Tony's room, hand hovering over the handle. "Did you… did you tell him I'm coming?"

In his state it startled him when Jarvis spoke even though he had spoken to him, "No sir, he asked for me not to disturb him."

He yanked his hand back, heart racing. "So should I leave him alone then?" The tightness in his chest was starting to ease at that though, relieved to have a way out but it was short lived at Jarvis answered.

"He only asked that I not disturb them. He did not mention you specifically."

"Okay." He laid his hand solidly on the nob and ignored that his own voice didn't sound convinced. "Okay."

The door swung open and he haltingly moved into the room. He had a moment to try to figure out what he should do, to think that he should have knocked when his eyes landed on Tony. More specifically what Tony was _watching_.

At the sound of the door Tony's head had flung around to see who was there and for a long awkward moment they were both frozen to the spot. Loki's eyes shifted to the tv again, to the _porn_ on the screen. It wasn't him, that much was a relief, but it did feature someone that had a shocking resemblance to him.

It was more than that it look liked him, he couldn't seem to look away as the man on the screen was helplessly handcuffed to the head of the bed, moaning as he was used fairly roughly. He finally pulled his eyes away to look at Stark, his voice small, "Oh."

It snapped him out of it and Tony grabbed the remote next to him, turning it off as he struggled to right himself. When he was put together he jumped to his feet, moving quickly towards Loki but he didn't touch, "Jesus Loki, you should have knocked or something… I can explain."

He darted his eyes away, nervous, but he pulled his hands behind his back. "I can.. I can do that if you want." He paused as if he was thinking it over, like every second with Paul wasn't burned into his memory, "I know they recorded it. One of the … movies."

He glanced up to see if Stark was going to accept his offer but looked away quickly when Tony was just staring at him blankly. "What are you talking about?"

Face flushed he tugged at the bottom of his shirt, "The… handcuffs. If you want, I can do that." He finally looked up and held Tony's eyes. "I can do anything you want."

It made Stark's face flush in arousal, an obvious twitch in his pants, but he was shaking his head, "Loki, just… just go back to your room."

"I don't want to… I can just, please Tony." He pulled together his nerve, "I'm not stupid, I can see that man looks just like me. I can be whatever you want."

He rubbed a hand over his face, voice tired, "What I want is for you to go back to your room-"

"I had a nightmare. I can't sleep."

Tony was struggling, he was never very good at the emotional stuff and he didn't know what Loki was looking for, didn't know why he showed up like this. If he showed up somewhere offering to have sex it would be because he was horny, but even he was aware that sex was the last thing Loki needed. "What do you want Loki?"

Something perked up at that, he wasn't used to hearing the words said in such exasperation but it was a command he heard enough times to know how to react. He started pulling off his shirt, voice only shaking a little, "I want you to fuck me."

Tony tried to casually reach down and shift himself. Even though he knew it was wrong Loki so wantonly offering himself made certain parts of him sit up and take notice. He shook himself out of it and stepped forward though, grabbing Loki's hand to make him stop taking his clothes off, renewed in his efforts when the touch made Loki cringe.

"Sorry!" Pulling away from the customers always was punished harshly and he forced himself to press into the touch instead. It was Tony and he had wanted to kiss him but now he felt dirty and he looking somewhere at his shoulder, "I want … I want you to do whatever you want."

"Alright, fine." Tony grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the bed, frowning when Loki's whole body tensed up, when a whimper of fear escaped his mouth. It was true that he was developing _something_ for Loki, and he didn't like to hear him so afraid. Not because of him. "I want you out of these clothes."

"Okay." The word was right but Loki's voice wavered and his hands shook as he pulled off his shirt, hands going to the button on his pants. He finally shimmied them off, leaving him in just underwear and he was sure he was supposed to take them off as well but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

For a long moment he stood there, nervous and dreading what was going to happen. The seconds ticked by with nothing happening and finally he looked up, realizing that Tony wasn't even in the room. His head snapped around to the closet where he could hear some rustling around, startling and snapping his eyes to the floor when Tony reappeared with clothes in his arms.

He honestly only had good intentions but he slowed as he approached, eyeing Loki from top to bottom, mentally scolding himself for the thrill of lust that moved through his body, making his cock hard. He shook his head to get rid of the thought of all the things those pretty red lips could do.

He moved close and picked up the clothes, chucking them angrily across the room. "Good. I don't ever want to see you in those clothes again. Now put these on." He shoved the clothes at Loki, purposely not looking at him as he headed to his bed.

Loki looked at the clothes, eyebrows pulling together in confusion. When he saw the clothes he thought maybe it was a costume, some kind of sex thing, but he could clearly see now that it was simply a pair of pajama pants and one of Tony's shirts. A quick glance showed him that Tony wasn't even watching him and he lifted the shirt up, resisting the urge to rub his face against the increasingly familiar scent.

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, and wasn't that a story for another day, he didn't understand what was going on. The shirt was warm and smelled safe and he pulled it on before he could be told otherwise. Once he was dressed he stood there awkwardly, finally speaking up, "Now what?"

"You can go back to your room or you can sleep in here. Up to you." Loki looked even more unsure and Tony remembered what Natasha had said about decisions being hard on him, stressful even and he relented. "Come here."

"Of course." He tilted his eyes down submissively, seductively and moved to the bed. "What…" He wished his voice wouldn't shake, "What do you want me to do."

Tony only reached out to grab him and pull him down into the bed, mouth quirking at the undignified sprawl the other man fell in. "Relax Loki. Relax. It's me, okay?"

"Yes." The right words, but the wrong tone, but Tony was starting to understand.

"I'm not going to do anything, okay? You're too… now isn't a good time to be doing anything like that. But you can sleep here if you're scared, if you're having bad dreams."

The offer seemed too good to be true and every instinct Loki had, every one that he had learned, told him to be wary. He finally muttered, "Everything comes at a price."

"I'm a billionaire. I don't need anything." The cocky tone made Loki ease, shyly glancing up at Tony. He slid the look into a more serious one, "What was the dream about?"

"Paul." Despite the awkwardness, his nervousness, speaking of his former owner made him slide closer to Tony. Made Tony the safe place. He went to tell him more but remembered why he had come in the first place, "I'm sorry… when you kissed me…"

He waved it off, "I shouldn't have been so pushy." It was easier to say some things when they were in a dark room, under the blankets, "I shouldn't have asked so much about Asgard… I was pushing."

In the silence that followed Tony slowly moved into Loki's space, reaching out to pull him against his chest, settling his body against his with an arm around his waist. For a moment Loki tensed, holding his breath, and just as Tony was about to pull away Loki relaxed against him. "It's… it's okay. Thor doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut." He wiggled a little, settling against Tony, telling himself he wouldn't panic when he realized just how intimate a position it was.

"So your dream, was it about… are you okay?"

"I dreamed I was back with him, that him and his friend were punishing me after I tried to escape."

"Well it was just a dream-"

"Memory. It happened." Loki choked on the words a little, shoulders tensing as he remembered the blows and embarrassingly found himself nearly snuggling up to Tony. Some super villain he was.

Automatically Tony's hand stroked his back, small circular motions to calm him. Desperate to break the tension he said the first thing that popped into his head, "Thor tried to see the videos." Before Loki could say anything he added, "He couldn't. I locked them out from accessing them."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He took a deep breath and pushed forward, "I'm not going to lie, I like having you in bed with me."

"Tony-"

"I know. I'm not saying I think we should jump right to anything, I'm just saying… I'd like to kiss you again." When he didn't get a response he hurried to add, "If it's too much I get that, okay?"

Loki thought about it for a long time, placing his hand over Tony's so he wouldn't pull away while he tried to sort out his thoughts. Finally he shifted his weight, turning so he rolled to face Tony, their faces only inches apart. He looked at him through lowered lashes, no longer acting but truly shy. "I'd like that."

Tony pressed in close immediately, maybe a little over eager but he wouldn't hurt Loki and he was sure the other knew that. He wanted to roll his body on top of Loki's, press that small frame into the bed but he knew he had to take it slow. One hand wrapped in the dark hair, tilting his head just a little before he leaned forward, pressing their lips together.

Like in the hallway Loki opened his mouth easily, letting Tony trace his lips, his mouth, let him do whatever he wanted. He tightened his hand a little, tongue pressing further into the kiss as he shifted his weight so he could slip his knee between Loki's legs, pressing them apart.

Loki couldn't help but moan, even though he was frightened by the closeness, when Tony's thigh brushed his cock through his pants, making his hips tilt up without his consent, close to rutting against him.

It felt good, Tony loved the feeling as Loki's thighs clenched around his leg and he moved one hand to his chest, moving it with purpose, planning on doing a lot more when he realized exactly what he was doing. Instead of deepening the kiss he slowly calmed it down, until he was only pressing against Loki's lips before pulling away completely.

He couldn't help but smirk as Loki tried to follow his mouth but he used the hand on his chest to hold him down. When Loki stopped moving he nudged him till he rolled on his side and then curled up against him, slipping his arm around his waist.

It made Loki shift, a little confused, because he knew that he was aroused and as Tony spooned up behind him he could tell very obviously that Tony was turned on too. He shifted his weight, wiggling backwards and could feel Tony's cock twitch against him, a small chuckle coming from the man. "Tony?"

"Time to sleep. I still think you're too… just sleep tonight. No more nightmares."

It took Loki a moment to process that, part of him felt short changed, felt like he was being played with, but it faded as he realized Tony was right. The kiss had been nice, Tony felt nice, but the thought of much more made him panic. He nodded his compliance, "Okay."

A thought occurred to him, "I don't want to ever see those clothes on you again Loki."

He glanced across the room where his street clothes lay and for some reason felt a pang at that thought, but he shook his head to clear it. "Sorry."

His tone was all wrong, to soft, to cowed but it was too late in the night for Tony to deal with it so he only held him close, pushing the hair out of his face. "Get some sleep, you're safe."

He nodded, he wanted to ask more, but he didn't want to upset him. He did feel safer, he trusted Tony, but there was more than just being safe. He didn't like that he felt weak, frightened. He didn't like that everything he'd done and he still was at someone else's whim.

It wasn't Tony's fault though, he was only doing what he could, was only responding to the way that Loki acted. It soothed him a little, but he still fell asleep frowning, though when he finally fell asleep there were no more dreams.

* * *

Tony woke up slowly and without thinking about it ground his hips against the warm body pressed to him, pulling the warmth in closer. "Morning."

It wasn't until the body in question tensed that he remembered where he was, who was with him and he eased his arms even though he made no move to put space between them. There was an easy smile in his voice, "Loki."

"Tony." His voice was strained, and sounded funny, but he wasn't pulling away.

He took that as a good sign and rubbed his hand over his torso, nuzzling against the back of his neck, "How did you sleep?"

"Good." He sucked in a quick breath when Tony's hand slid down further, slipping under his shirt against his stomach, fingers just lightly grazing the skin.

"No nightmares?" He wasn't really trying anything, his body just automatically doing what it would when he woke up in bed with someone, and he didn't pay attention to what he was doing until Loki make a small sound that was definitely not afraid, and he wiggled a little against him. It made him pay more attention to what he was doing, and slide his hand down a little farther, running along the top of the pajama pants.

Loki's breathing was speeding up, legs spreading a little and he tried to calm down. It was ridiculous that he was responding this strongly when Tony was barely touching him, he was acting like a kid and it was embarrassing. "No nightmares."

"Good." His breath tickled the back of his neck and it made him tremble and Tony move his hand slowly, over his pajama pants, to lightly cup the bulge there. He made an appreciative humming sound, stroking his fingers just enough to make out the shape of him, waiting to see if Loki could handle it.

"Oh." It was barely a breath of a word. It felt good, and after everything that had been done to him it shouldn't seem so intimate, so much more than anyone else that had touched him but he was already hard, cock twitching under those talented fingers.

"That's a good sound." His hand moved to slide under the pajama pants even as he shifted until his own erection was pressed snuggly against Loki's ass, but he didn't do anything else, just concentrated on touching Loki.

The position gave him pause but Tony touched him like nobody else had, and it was different enough that it didn't frighten him, and he found himself shifting his hips to thrust into the grip. He was aroused enough that precum made Tony's hand move smoothly, pulling still drowsy moans from Loki as he mindlessly moved with it, not minding when it meant he was thrusting back against Tony too.

There was something fairly powerful about having the former demi god come apart under his hands, and he didn't even really care about his own arousal, he was more than happy just driving Loki crazy. "That's it, come on." He nudged his hips, directing Loki's movements to make them faster, harder and after a moment slid his own hand down his pants to grab his own cock, stroking in time with Loki's. He pressed his lips to the place on his neck just under his ear, kissing softly.

"Feels good?" His voice was smug but Loki was too gone to care as he frantically nodded his head. "Will you cum for me?" He twisted his hand as he moved it up, flicking over the sensitive top of Loki's cock, making him whine and squirm, but he kept the touch light, not enough to push him over, waiting.

After a few moments of thrusting Loki was able to get ahold of his words, desperately answering, "Please Tony, please!"

"Of course." He made each stroke harder, pulling him closer even as he was reaching his own climax. "Come on Loke, cum for me."

His whole body went taut as he came, cumming so hard that his visions went a little spotty and he desperately reached up to cling to Tony's arm. While he was still dazed, he felt the wetness against his back, registering Tony's moan and instinctually pressed backwards, Tony's spent cock rubbing wetly against the exposed skin between his shirt and pants. It made his cock twitch, trying to keep cumming and when the tremors stopped he nearly collapsed backwards against Tony.

He pulled Loki close, hands automatically moving to soothe him, "You alright."

"Ug." It made Tony laugh and his body shaking against Loki pulled a shaky smile from him too.

"Oh yea, you sound alright. I'm alright too, for the record." Loki only nodded, appreciating the playfulness but too out of sorts to respond. He did make a face though when he settled back into a distinctly wet spot. He made a displeased sound and was startled when Tony wrapped arms around him and rolled, letting Loki splay out on top of him. "Better?"

Facing Tony was hard, now that it sunk in what they had done and he tried to look away, "You didn't have to…" He realized that Tony had jerked himself off and he instantly felt contrite, "I should have, I could have used my mouth-"

"Shush, you're thinking too much." He held him carefully until he stopped resisting and relaxed against him. "We just can't let Thor know." He was trying to lighten the situation but realized too late that it might do the opposite, but Loki didn't even tense.

"He knows." At Tony's surprised look he added, "Don't let him fool you. He's a dumb horse, but not nearly as dumb as he lets on."

"And he hasn't crushed me into a bloody little pulp yet?"

"I wouldn't let him." The words slipped out before Loki thought about him and he flushed, realizing that there wasn't anything he could do. Uncomfortable that Tony might be upset at even the implication that he would need him to defend him.

"Good, you're probably my best defense against him." His voice softened, "He cares about you a lot."

He frowned, even though he was relieved that Tony hadn't taken offense. He scrambled to change the subject, and used it as an opportunity to ask the question that had been at the back of his mind, timidly asking, "What if Paul… what if he recognized you and comes here?"

"He'll be lucky if he makes it out the door alive. I wouldn't bet good money on that outcome though."

"You won't give me back?"

He had to look at Loki to realize that he was serious and he laughed as he shook his head, "You're not going anywhere Loki, I promise you that."

"Promise?"

It was Tony's turn to feel uncomfortable, so much in that voice, and he calmly rolled Loki off him, giving him a grin. "Come on, let's get in the shower and get cleaned up and try to get some food before your brother eats everything."

"Okay." He didn't miss that Tony didn't answer, but was too submissive to push it and let himself be pulled to the shower.


	12. Chapter 12

Clint was definitely staring at him. Loki shifted his weight anxiously, leaning into Tony's side and kept his eyes down but he could still feel his eyes on him. He couldn't help the flush that moved up his face, sure that everyone would know what had happened between him and Tony. He glanced up, trying to figure out what he wanted, but was unable to hold the eye contact. Tony finally noticed and followed the gaze to Clint, raising an eyebrow, "What?"

Immediately Clint looked to Natasha and then back. "I was just… just wondering something."

Natasha nodded, "He has an idea of who might have been hiding Loki."

"Loki?" Loki had been staring at Clint and something on the other's face had made him go pale, eyes wide. He didn't look at Tony but kept his eyes on Clint who took that as a go ahead. "When you… when you got here you told me about the Chitauri."

For a long moment there was silence and Tony felt like he was being left out of something important because Loki's face had closed off and even Clint looked like it pained him to talk about.

"Yes." His voice was barely a hiss, frightened.

"You told me, you told me what they did."

Tony reached out to touch Loki's shoulder and he flinched hard, nearly stumbling to his feet. He hadn't taken his eyes of Clint but now it looked like he was begging, pleading for something.

Clint rolled his shoulders uncomfortably but continued, "I know but… when they used to send you …visions or whatever they did and you always came back in worse shape, bruised, bleeding. You said they told you if you failed they would …what did they say?"

Tony wasn't sure if he didn't really remember or if he was pushing Loki to join in but he only stood there staring at Clint like he was being betrayed, which was a little ridiculous, but he slowly moved to his feet, shrugging off Tony's hand when he tried to help him. "It isn't them."

"Yea, but they said-"

"It isn't them!" His voice slid into a high pitched shriek and he finally turned to Tony, crossing his arms stiffly across his chest. "Am I free to go back to my room?"

"Loki, what's going on?"

"I'd like to go to my room." Tony reached out and touched his arm and Loki jerked away, "Don't touch me."

It made Tony rock back on his heels, face confused and becoming quickly agitated. "Fine. Go."

"I will." There was an awkward pause like he was waiting for Tony to stop him, in fact Steve and Bruce were both watching like they expected Tony to as well, but when nothing happen he huffily turned and headed out of the room.

They stared after him for a moment until Tony turned towards the others, and then stomped towards the coffee pot. "Okay, so what happened now?"

"Should someone be making sure he makes it to his room and doesn't just… take off?"

Tony waved off the concern, "He isn't going anywhere.'

Natasha casually added, "He was not in his room last night. Jarvis said he had no orders to keep him in there. Do you have any idea where he was?"

Years of dealing with one night stands and inappropriate situations made sure that Tony didn't so much as blush. "My room. Anything else?"

"Tony." Steve sounded so disapproving, scolding that it made Tony smile.

Clint broke in, "As much as I… well don't care about Tony's love life, I think this is important. The chitauri told him that if he failed that whatever they would do would be bad enough to make him wish for pain."

"So you're thinking that this was their plan?"

He shrugged, "I'm just saying what I know."

"It is possible they were attempting to hide him from Asgard so they could take him and perhaps lost track of him once he arrived on Earth?" Ever reasonable Natasha brought them back on topic, "Or they could have seen what was happening and chose to leave him like that."

Tony was starting to nod but was stuck on the look on Loki's face when they were first brought up. "What did they do to him?"

"What?"

"The Chitauri. You said when he arrived he told you what they did to him."

Clint rolled his shoulders uncomfortably, and Bruce sat up a little straighter. "You never told us anything after you came off the spell."

"I didn't think it mattered." He rubbed one arm self-consciously, "I was… angry that I had been used. I didn't want anyone to have any sympathy for him."

"Clint."

"They tortured him. They found him … falling? I never quite got that, and then they tortured him. Until he would do what they told him." He swallowed hard, "Every time they contacted him he looked terrified. When he first arrived he could barely walk, we had to half carry him to the truck."

Bruce was shaking his head, "You should have told us that."

"I wanted us to hurt him, not try to save him." Clint said the words like he had been holding them in for a long time, like they hurt to say and his body slumped a little. His eyes darted around, expecting anger, but slowly he relaxed when he found none.

"You should have told us that man, we wouldn't have… we would have still defeated him. Thor even tried to talk him down and he stabbed him."

Steve had been watching silently but finally spoke up, "It doesn't matter now. It's good information to have because it sounds like they wouldn't be done with him." He looked thoughtful, "We need to get Thor and find out all we can about the Chitauri."

Tony nodded without paying attention, eyes trained on the direction Loki had gone. "I will, I will get Thor." He absently drank his coffee and remembered the other thing he had wanted to do, wanted to do while he held Loki and watched him sleep. "I think I'm gonna take a walk today and have a little visit with this Paul."

"I wish to join you." Thor stood in the doorway, holding his hammer and leaning against it casually.

"Me too."

Thor didn't surprise him but Steve did and Tony took another sip of coffee and directed his next words at Thor. "We can't kill him."

"I understand this Tony Stark."

He raised an eyebrow because he just didn't believe that. He turned to Steve, "And you?"

Steve only shrugged and wouldn't meet his eyes and he was actually proud of Captain Spangles for apparently planning to do something uncouth to the man. He smiled around his next sip of coffee. "Anyone else?"

* * *

In the end they all wanted to at least see and Bruce stayed behind to keep an eye on Loki. They weren't ready for him to be in the mansion alone and they all agreed the hulk was a little bit of overkill. Tony regretted not bringing Loki along though, he probably would have liked seeing Paul put in his place, but he didn't want to risk it.

The moment Paul's eyes landed on Tony they were livid and he quickly approached them, oblivious to the danger he was walking in to. "Where the hell is he?"

It wasn't until he was an arm's length away that he noticed that Tony wasn't alone and his steps faltered for a moment, unsure. Tony tilted his head, "Who exactly do you mean?"

"Tucker, you _rented_ him, I expect him back!" He seemed to consider, "Or at least more money."

Without looking he pushed Thor back and gave his best smile, "You have any idea how much shit you are in man?"

It wasn't the answer he had been expecting and now he glanced nervously and realized that there were a few people with Tony. There hadn't been any recognition but now there was fear creeping across his face. "What's this about?"

On the ride over they had talked and talked, trying to explain to Thor that he couldn't reveal why he was so upset, couldn't mention anything about it being his brother because if S.H.I.E.L.D knew Loki was there he would be in danger, though Tony could feel the demi god nearly vibrating at his side with the urge to strike the man.

"This… Tucker. He belongs to us, we had been looking for him. We're not pleased you had him."

Whatever Paul had been about to say died on his lips and suddenly his eyes darted to each of them and in a flash he recognized them and took a few steps backwards. "I… what? What are _you_ guys doing here?"

Thor lunged forward in front of Tony, his hammer first and suddenly Paul was airborne. He landed several feet away, a cut off cry coming from him as he struck the pavement hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Before Thor could do anything Steve was there, "Tucker is a friend of ours. He went missing and apparently you found him."

"And you didn't take very good care of him."

He was trying to scramble backwards but just that quick Natasha and Clint were there, stopping his process. He was holding his stomach and Tony wouldn't be surprised if Thor had damaged something. "Listen, I didn't know-"

Steve's voice was strained, "How many more do you have that you've forced? We saw the movies."

His hands came up, desperate now and all around everyone had stopped to watch. Tony crouched down, "You're awfully close to getting crushed into the ground. Steve?"

He wasn't sure what he expected Steve to do, something calm he was sure, so he was really surprised when instead his fist was flying and Paul's head whipped to the side. Already Paul's nose was bleeding, his mouth bloody and it made Tony realize that Steve hadn't pulled any of his strength. He was caught wondering how he was the reasonable one. He purposely stepped between them and raised an eyebrow at Paul, "You see where this is going, yea? We aren't happy."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know, I didn't-"

He was suddenly sent skittering several feet across the ground again by Thor's hammer and Tony couldn't help a small chuckle, something about Natasha side stepping the bleeding man. It was getting out of control though and he purposely raised his voice, "You can't hurt people, abuse people without consequences. How about you fix this and we don't have to come visit you again." He needed to make sure that those watching, those that would undoubtedly give police statements heard that Paul was a bad person.

It was with some persuasion that he could convince the others to start to head away but grudgingly they started to leave. He paused though and headed down to crouch by him again and grabbed him by his shirt. He wasn't hands on, not when he didn't have his suit, but for this he was willing to get close. "On a more personal note, if you ever see Tucker again, try to talk to him, upset him you will find out just how painful it is to be on my bad side. I hope you aren't dumb enough to come after him." He brushed the blood he had gotten on his hands on the man's shirt, "Or maybe I hope you are."

He left him there coughing up blood, sirens already in the background though he didn't know if they were police or an ambulance because surely the man was going to need it. Either way he didn't feel satisfied. They had hurt him, probably more than they meant to, it wasn't often they dealt with individuals that were fully human but he still felt short changed. He glanced back and the man was staring after him, and clear as day his face was twisted in hatred and Tony remembered that it seemed Loki had been more to the other man than just a source of income.

It cheered him up a bit because suddenly he was sure that they hadn't seen the last of Paul and next time… next time the man wouldn't get off so easy.

* * *

Loki was admittedly sulking in his room, hurt that Tony hadn't come after him but he wouldn't admit it. Frustrated he kicked at the bed, he didn't want to be alone, not with the Chitauri on his mind. Not when Clint's words brought back front and center what they had done.

He was shaking he realized, and forced it back down. That was the past, not now, now… now he had other things to deal with. Without his consent though his mind drifted to his encounters with them while he was on Earth. His fist clenched as he thought of how difficult it had been to try to succeed at what they wanted when they held the threat of torture over his head and disciplined him like he was a dog, expected to obey their every whim.

"Jarvis, where is Tony?" He needed a distraction from knowing that he had failed at everything he had tried to do, that he had had sought revenge and respect and instead had been defeated, humiliated even before he had been sent back to Midgard.

"He is not currently in the mansion."

"Where did he go?'

"I am not allowed to give out that information."

Loki frowned and reached down to nervously tug at his shirt. He didn't trust him as much and he knew his voice was unsure but he asked, "Rogers?"

"Also not in the mansion sir."

"Oh." He was shaking again and he huffed out in annoyance. He had sworn to himself that he wouldn't run to his big brother but he snapped out, "Thor?"

"He departed with Mr. Rogers and Mr. Stark."

"I… Thor is gone?" His voice had gone high pitched and squeaky. "He's gone? Is he coming back?"

"Yes sir. They went out on an errand. Mr. Stark said to tell you that they would return shortly."

"I'm here by myself?"

"Dr. Banner is in the labs. You are free to visit him there, Mr. Stark has not specified that you are confined to your quarters."

He shuddered a little at that. He found himself actually liking Bruce but wasn't up to facing him without Tony there to act as a buffer for him. Instead he curled up on the bed, pulling his knees up. "Will you let me know when they arrive? Will you… will you tell Tony I need him? Please?"

"I will contact him immediately and let him know."

He had meant when Tony arrived home but he didn't protest, hoping that it would bring Tony home quicker to him, even as there was a sharp pang of shame at being so needy. "Thank you."

* * *

Tony didn't particularly feel victorious as they headed home, and Thor and Steve didn't look any better. "Sir, Loki requested your presence."

"Is he okay?" His adrenalin jumped.

"Yes sir. He appears distraught with the absence of yourself, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Thor." There was a pause, "He said that he needed you."

A warm flush found its way working up Tony's face, somehow that request making him nervous in a way that explaining Loki in his bed didn't. He avoided the other's eyes, Clint's smug look, and responded, "Tell him to hold tight, I'm on my way."

"Of course sir, I will let him know."

He slouched back, trying to pretend like there was nothing going on, like that hadn't affected him at all. Without looking he kicked out his leg, hitting Clint solidly in the shin and smirking at him when he let out an indignant cry. There, now he felt better. Now to get home to Loki.


	13. Chapter 13

Loki leaned against the wall by the entrance to the mansion, trying to look for all the world like he just didn't care. He had planned to stay in his room until Tony had come to find him, had planned to make Tony search him out… never mind that he had practically begged Tony to come home. He was not waiting for him, that was certain, he just happened to be heading through that section of the mansion.

He rolled his eyes at himself, truth be told he wanted to see Tony the moment he came through the door, but he knew what it would look like. He knew what it _was._ He needed Tony, he was weak and helpless, and it nearly drove him into a panic because he was alone. How far he had he fallen?

He heard someone approaching the door and pressed back against the wall, unsure what he would do if it wasn't Tony. The door nearly flew open and they came in like a herd of elephants, but at least it was them. Tony was first, of course, and his eyes landed on Loki immediately. He had a grin on his face and headed towards him though stopped when Loki's eyes widened, "Loki?"

His eyes were riveted to Tony… more specifically the blood on his shirt. His eyes skittered past him to the others and he didn't see any more blood. He reached out to almost touch where it was, glancing up, "Tony?"

He looked down to see where Loki was looking and his mouth twisted, "It's not mine."

Clint and Natasha had headed in last, though with only a glance at the situation they took off to only they knew where. Steve and Thor were still there though, watching him. He spared a glare for Thor, agitated when he barely reacted. He looked back to Tony, "Where did you go? Whose blood is it?"

Tony didn't answer, instead reached out to grab at his arm, giving him a tug. "Come on, why don't we head to the kitchen, maybe get some coffee."

"No." He glanced again at Steve and Thor, looking for some kind of help, but they looked away. His eyes landed on Tony again and his voice was a little less confident, "No, tell me what happened."

"Later Loke, go with them and get some lunch or something. I'm going to go get cleaned up."

He was being dismissed and he hated it, always had. "Tony."

Thor stepped forward, hands up to placate him, "Tony, he deserves an answer."

His tone caught Tony's attention and he turned to really look at Loki and frowned, "Okay." He reached out to pull him closer, trying to meet his eyes, "Hey, I wasn't trying to… I just don't want to upset you."

"I'm not a child."

"No… but you're a little…" He trailed off, uncomfortable, and coughed to cover it, "Okay, but to the kitchen. I either need coffee or a scotch."

Loki thought about taking offense to that, but he knew what Tony meant and honestly he couldn't deny it so he let himself be pulled along to the kitchen. They were barely over the threshold when he tugged on the hold, "What happened?"

Tony looked around him, catching Steve's eyes for a moment before looking back to Loki. He didn't like it, he felt left out, they were treating him like he was going to break. Maybe he hadn't helped it by storming off earlier and refusing to talk about the Ch… about _them_, but that didn't mean they had to handle him like this.

"Stop it!"

His voice was a little shrill and Tony immediately pulled him close, one hand going up to his hair to soothe through it, letting his hand settle on the back of his neck. It made Loki's eyes close, though they snapped open when he remembered that Thor was still watching, watching and looking smug. "Relax Loki, okay?"  
"We went to see Paul." Steve just blurted it out, startling all of them before they looked to Loki to see his response.

"That's Paul's blood?"

"Yes."

It took Loki a second and when he looked up, there was fear on his face, "Why did you go to Paul?"

Tony shrugged, he didn't like explaining himself. "I had some things to say to him."

"Like what?"

"Loki-"

His name was said sharply and it startled him, making him look down to the ground and hunch his shoulders. From off to the side he heard either Thor or Steve make a displeased sound but his attention was focused fully on Tony, "Sorry."

Tony ran a hand over his face, frustrated. He really was not very good at this. "Loki…" He trailed off for a moment while he got his words together. His first impulse was to talk to Loki like he would a girl, but the results the last time he had done that had been less than ideal. "We went to scare him." He touched the drying blood on his shirt, "To get our pound of flesh as it were." He sighed, "I wanted to hurt him, so we did."

Loki glanced around, "So what happened?" He couldn't look at Tony as he asked it, "What did he say about me?"

"He told us to bring you back or to pay more money." He nodded towards Steve, "Steve there did a good job of pummeling his face in." Steve actually looked a little contrite, maybe he didn't regret what he did but Tony knew that he didn't like vigilante force. It did make him think of something though, "He recognized us with all of us there."

"You won't send me back to him?"

Tony scoffed, not even willing to give that any weight. "You know we wouldn't send you back Loki." He made a motion towards the front door, "You shouldn't be hanging around the door like that either, what if it hadn't been us?"

He rolled his shoulders a little, trying to shrug off the feeling of being scolded. "Sorry."

Tony started to ask something else but hesitated, it wasn't the time or the place to try to find out exactly how much of relationship him and Paul had. The kind of hatred he had seen on his face… that was more than just taking one of his stable. He quickly took another route, "So if you were worried about him looking for you, I wouldn't be worried anymore. He won't even get out of the hospital for a while."

It seemed like a little bit much, with everyone watching him, and he gave into the urge to move against Tony, "Do you need to get cleaned up?"

The tension in the room sky rocketed, there was a blatant invitation in the words, and Tony felt his eyebrows go up as he stole a glance at Thor. He was surprised that Loki would sound so… seductive with his brother in the room. "Uh, yea. I did say that."

Loki was staring at Tony's shoulder refusing to meet his eyes, "Okay."

"Okay…" Steve was shaking his head at him but surprisingly Thor was only watching with something like curiosity, and not at all like an enraged older brother. "You going to come with me?"

"Of course."

It was so matter of fact that Tony couldn't help responding, "Of course? That simple."

"I'm yours now, aren't I?" He shifted against Tony until the other gave in and put an arm around his waist. "You… you told Paul and told him I wasn't his anymore, so now I'm yours."

"You're a person Loki, you don't have to belong to anyone." Steve had taken several steps towards them, looking some odd combination of confused and righteous.

"I'm Tony's." Loki sounded a little startled, and he looked up at him, "I'm yours, aren't I?"

They all looked to Tony and he wanted to deny it, but Loki felt good in his arms and he knew that what they did had meant more than… knew he wouldn't have touched Loki the way he had if he didn't plan on it being more than a casual thing. "Yes, yes you're mine."

"Tony, you can't be serious." Steve waved his arms frantically, "He is in no state of mind to… you're taking advantage of him."

"Grow up Steve." He gave Loki a tug, "Come on, let's go."

"Hey." He looked suddenly serious, "Hey, we have things we need to talk about, If Clint is right then this Chitauri could be showing up at our door any day, we need to-"

"Talk to Clint and Natasha and we'll meet in a few hours. I'm tired and have someone else's blood on me, I'm going to get cleaned up."

Steve tried to follow them but Thor reached out to place a hand on his arm, stopping him. "Let them go." Steve looked surprised at his easy acceptance but Thor tilted his head, "Let me catch you up on the Chitauri."

* * *

Loki moved silently along with Tony until he couldn't hold it in any longer, "I want to know exactly what happened."

Tony pulled him closer, "We got there. We told him who we were, he plead for his life. Your brother sent him flying a few times with his hammer and we nearly had to pull Steve off him, and I told him if he ever came near you again, if I ever saw him again he'd be dead."

Loki was looking away though, and he didn't particularly look convinced, "You think he will give up that easy?" He shook his head, "You should have killed him."

"We can't just go around killing people Loki." He stopped and turned him to face him, "He just got his ass kicked by the Avengers, you think he'll come back?"

He only nodded, and Tony found himself intrigued by that. He wanted to know what made Loki so sure. "You think he'd risk getting killed to come back for you."

Loki looked up to meet Tony's eyes, and his were serious, "I've seen what he's done to keep me. He's not… he's not right."

Tony reached up one hand to pet Loki's hair, settling it on the back of his neck, the way he was quickly learning to settle him down. Loki looked like he was talking about the boogeyman and Tony wasn't sure if Paul was really that dangerous or if Loki just had a skewed view of him.

"Hey, you know you're safe here." Loki nodded but there was still fear in his eyes and Tony let go of his neck to touch his jaw, tilting his head up. "If he shows up here I'll kill him Loki. I'm not kidding." Loki tried to look away but Tony gave his jaw a little shake, pulling his attention back. "I'm serious Loki."

He searched his face for a long time, and Tony let him see that he meant it. Let some of the promise he had been hesitant to show that morning through, because after coming face to face with Paul he knew that he wouldn't let anyone hurt Loki. Knew that it went beyond his duty as an Avenger, and he smiled.

It made Loki smile, and he relaxed against him, and he wanted to ask if he promised, wanted a verbal confirmation but he didn't want to push it. "You need to clean up."

"I do." He pulled Loki a little closer, experimentally sliding one knee between his thighs, seeing what he would do. He shifted his weight easily, settling his weight against Tony and he really liked that.

He turned slightly, pushing Loki until his back was against the wall, keeping a watchful eye to make sure it wasn't too much for him, and leaned in for a kiss. He had meant to keep it chaste, just to feel Loki's lips against his, but the moment they touched Loki's hips jerked against him and he couldn't help responding, grabbing onto Loki and pulling them tight together, moaning when Loki opened his mouth to him.

It was an effort to pull away, panting and Loki matched him, face flushed and it gave Tony a little more confidence, made him a little more sure of what he was doing when he could feel Loki hard against him. "Okay, I think we should probably get back to the room." Despite his words he leaned forward, pressing his mouth against Loki's neck, grinning against it at the sound he made. If it had been anyone else he would have continued where they were, but most people he brought home didn't have a big brother wandering around the house. Thor had seemed okay so far, but he probably wouldn't respond well to walking in to Tony ravishing his little brother in the hall way.

He forced himself to step back, "Okay, we _really_ need to get to my room."

Loki nodded in agreement, letting Tony take his hand and pull him down the hall. He fought down the nervousness that threatened to ruin his good mood, he trusted Tony, he really did, and he was looking forward to doing more.

Tony nearly slammed the door open, hands on Loki as soon as they were through the threshold, kicking the door shut. He was moving them towards the bed, pushing until the back of Loki's knees bumped into the mattress and he let himself fall backwards on to it. Tony was in the process of crawling over him when something registered and he abruptly pulled back. "Loki, I didn't mean to… are you okay? You know you can tell me if you're too scared or if you… you don't want to do something?"

Though in theory he was grateful for the assertion, it made him shift uncomfortably, reminding him that he was someone now that needed to be treated like they might break. His response was to make a small sound of agreement, bucking his hips up and tilting his mouth up imploringly for another kiss. It was all Tony needed and he was pulling off Loki's shirt, only breaking from the kiss long enough to pull his own off and let Loki do the same.

At the back of his mind he knew that it wasn't a good idea, that Loki was still fragile, but he couldn't seem to stop. He nudged Loki's legs apart, forgetting what he was doing for a moment as it let them rub against each other, and he watched Loki close his eyes, mouth slightly open, obviously enjoying it just as much.

He had a moment to decide what he was going to do, what he really wanted was to drive him into the mattress, make him scream, but no matter what Loki said that seemed like too much. Too soon. He slid one hand between them, confidently undoing Loki's pants and slipping a hand down them, making a sound of approval at finding Loki hard and already dripping precum, and that was enough to make him pull back and look at Loki's face. "Eager."

The word wasn't necessarily teasing, but Loki flushed anyways. He couldn't deny it, much like the morning Tony just barely touching him was enough to get him going. He had been sexually active for centuries but there was something about Tony, about the way he touched him that had him respond like it was his first time with someone. He wiggled his hips into the touch, "Please."

Tony nodded, shoving down the pants and Loki tried to help them, trying to kick them off. It didn't quite work though as one pant leg got stuck and he frantically kicked his leg, trying to dislodge it. It made Tony chuckle and he reached down, rubbing his thigh affectionately before he grabbed the pants and pulled them off. "Easy tiger."

The not quite god did his best to glare at him, hard to do when he was naked and under him, but he gave it his best effort. He was quickly distracted by Tony being naked though, and when he laid back down so they were skin to skin, he couldn't help the nervous sound he made.

"Loki, you okay?"

He nodded, but to be honest he wasn't sure. The corners of Tony's mouth tilted down and he scrambled to wipe the worry off his face, not wanting to upset him. Almost instantly Tony's hand came up to brush along his cheek, "No, hey, if you're nervous that's okay." He started to pull away but Loki grabbed onto him, holding him in place.

"No, don't go. I'm just… just give me a second, please."

He still looked reluctant but he settled against Loki, stroking fingers through his hair as he watched him take a few deep breaths. This was Tony, it wasn't a stranger, it wasn't … _Paul_, it was someone that cared about him and would stop if he asked. He didn't remember closing his eyes but when he opened him the fear was gone. He nudged his hips up a little, trying to encourage Tony to move.

"You sure?" Loki nodded, a little embarrassed by his own fear, and bucked his hips a little more insistently. When Tony still looked hesitant he quickly reached down to wrap a hand around Tony, managing a firm long stroke that made Tony hiss out between his teeth. "Okay, I get it. You're sure."

For a moment he didn't do anything, just let Loki touch him, hoping to give him some confidence but his self-control wasn't that good and he couldn't keep hands off for long. It was a little bit awkward and Loki was forced to let go and lay back when Tony insistently reached down to touch him.

They both moved to kiss at the same time, sloppy and not very smooth but neither of them really seemed to notice it. He moved until he hiked Loki's legs up a little, letting them rest over his thighs, and he had to say he liked the view. He pulled back and eyed him, smirking when it made Loki blush. "You look good."

He made a sound in the back of his throat, looking away, uncomfortable with the compliment. Tony let it go, letting his fingers move over his skin, making goose bumps rise on his skin. An impatient whimper from the man below him made him move to wrap his hand around him again, jerking him off steadily. Loki tried twice to return the favor but Tony only shifted his weight to stop him, "No, I want to see you cum sprawled out for me like this, okay?"

How could he not agree to that? He stopped struggling and laid back, trying to control his breathing and staring hard at Tony to keep himself centered. He was so focused on him that his orgasm caught him off guard, and he shouted, body tensing up. He jerked his hips so hard that he almost knocked Tony off him but after the shudders stopped he looked up at him, mouth open and a little dazed.

"Guess I'm doing something right." He stayed there for a moment before rolling off, tugging Loki to lie against him with his head on his chest. He was pliant, and stayed put for a moment but then looked up to Tony and met his eyes before very purposely moving on top of him, sliding down his body.

"Hey, you don't have to do that."

Loki paused, and when he glanced up at Tony his face was every inch the cocky obnoxiously smug demi god they had fought and it made Tony's cock twitch, shifting his weight when Loki raised an eyebrow, "I want to."

It was good to see him look like that and just a little bit naughty, despite where he was now he was still technically a bad guy, and there was something about fucking the enemy that just did it for him. Reflexively he reached down, wrapping one hand in the dark hair, though he was careful not to force anything. Loki took the hint though, and without any preamble he was sucking on him, those mischievous lips wrapped around his cock and it was mesmerizing.

He had thought about it enough, even before Loki had showed back up, that he knew he wouldn't last long. He gave him a small tug on his hair until he glanced up, and if he wasn't ready to cum those big eyes staring at him with his cock nearly down his throat was enough to do it. He grunted, "Gonna cum, Loke."

He didn't pull back, sucking harder, though to be honest Tony was sure that he would swallow. A few more thrusts up of his hips and he was cumming, grabbing Loki's shoulder and clutching his hair to pull him closer, keeping him there. He tried to watch him but it was just too good and his eyes slid shut, only remember how tight he was holding him when his cock was soft and Loki made a small imploring sound.

All at once he let him go, suddenly worried that he might have upset him, but Loki only grinned shyly up at him, looking like he was waiting for something. Post orgasm it took him a moment but he finally realized what he was looking for and pulled him up, pressing a firm kiss to his mouth. "That was good Loki, so good."

The praise made him shy, averting his eyes, but he didn't resist when Tony pulled them to sprawl together, pulling a blanket up around them. Loki felt… at ease and he was seriously contemplating going to sleep when Tony was talking.

"Just a little nap, we're going to have to meet Clint and Natasha in a little bit, and Captain Spangles too I suppose."

"Hmmm." It was a mostly disinterested sound, Loki really only cared about getting to enjoy the moment.

Tony shifted his weight, wrapping his arms around him and nuzzling against his neck. "Couldn't agree more, but Rogers can be relentless. Like I really care about the Chitauri, we got a freaking hulk."

He was oblivious as Loki tensed in his grip, he had forgotten that they were going to have a _meeting_ about them. He tilted his head up until he was looking at Tony, "Tony… I can't…"

"It will be fine, we defeated them once, you don't need to be afraid."

"Defeated them with me leading them, you don't know the thing that leads them, he is relentless… vicious… if he captures any of you… if he captures me…." He was nearly hyperventilating and Tony rubbed his arms, eyebrows creasing as he tried to calm him.

"Hey, I told you, you're safe here. We can beat them."

"You don't understand what they are capable of-"

Tony laughed, not cruelly but he obviously wasn't taking it serious. "They aren't really a threat Loki, we'll take care of them." He gave him a hard tug until he was lying back down again and wrapped his arms around him, trying to be comforting but Loki only felt stifled.

"You don't understand." The words were softer and Tony didn't even acknowledge them, moving close and closing his eyes, obviously planning on going to sleep. There was silence for a long time and when Tony's breathing evened out Loki, watching him carefully, slipped out from under his arm.

They had no idea how dangerous the Chitauri were, and Loki would not be captured by them again. He was done letting his life be out of control, at others whims and he headed towards the labs, determined to do something about it.

* * *

"Sir?"

Thor jumped as the disembodied voice filled the room, and frowned at the wall. It was not natural to have a voice come out of it like that. He knew it was Jarvis, had it explained to him many times, but still his voice came out suspicious, "Yes?"

"Perhaps you would like to check on Mr. Loki. He has been down to the labs and I am … concerned about what he is doing."

"Where is Stark?"

"Sleeping, I can wake him if you prefer, however he has instructed me to contact you if there is a problem with Loki and he is not immediately available."

For some reason that made a smile tug at his mouth and he nodded, "Okay. Where is he?"

It took some doing to find the room Loki had holed away in, the building was too big for its own good. Jarvis had been vague, or perhaps he just did not understand, but without knocking he threw open the door, unsure of what he would find.

Loki was in the center of the room, holding something in his hand up to the light as if he was examining it, but it was the look on his face that worried Thor. He had seen it before… plotting and he stalked forward. The moment Loki saw him he looked guilty and quickly hid his hand behind his back. Thor was not fooled though snarled out when he reached him, "What are you doing?"

Loki was frozen to the spot, startled to be found, and automatically looked behind Thor to see if anyone else was with him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you." He eyed the hand that Loki was carefully hiding behind his back, "What were you doing?" His words were slow, still trying to process what he had seen. He had only seen a glance of a vial in Loki's hand but it looked like the ones he used to have on Asgard, but he wouldn't believe that.

"Nothing." He was edging away though, and wouldn't meet his eyes.

Thor didn't allow it, stomping towards him and grabbing his arm and he had always been bigger, stronger, and it was easy to wrestle it away from him. He eyed it closely, he didn't know for sure what it was or how to tell but Loki's reaction was more than enough. His voice was low, dangerous, "How did you even get this?"

"You don't even know what-"

"It's poison."

Loki paused, caught off guard by that. "Thor-"

"Where did you even get this, have you regained your magic?"

"No, I… it isn't the same as on Asgard. Midgardians have very… similar poisons. Easy to get ahold of, even without magic."

His voice had lowered until Thor could barely hear him, cold and clinical and he sounded so much like the Loki that Thor had faced on the tower that it made him tense. For a moment… for a moment he feared that they had been wrong this whole time, that Loki had somehow been playing them and he snarled out, "After everything they have done for you, you were going to try to kill them?"

"I… what?" Loki looked as if he had been about to go into some kind of rant but at Thor's words he froze, unable to keep the cool exterior he had been trying so hard to uphold. He glanced at the vial and Thor's face and then it clicked. "Ah." He crossed his arms and tried not to sound as broken as he was, "I wasn't planning on giving it to them."

"Then what were you going to do with it?"

There was a long pause and he wished Thor would get it but he just kept staring at him, like a big stupid horse. He tried to play it off like it wasn't a big deal, because he knew how Thor would react. "I… I don't have many choices left Thor, I will take the ones that I can get." When Thor still stared at him he shook his head, "I'll kill myself before I let them take me." He glanced up, lightning quick, and couldn't stop the spite in the words, "Fitting that I would leave this world as a coward."

"You aren't a coward Loki." The idea of suicide was almost unheard of on Asgard and he didn't know what to say. "How can you… what would bring you to this point Loki?"

"Have you seen what is going on Thor?" He backed off quickly though, adding, "I wasn't going to… I wanted it just in case the Chitauri… it was a precaution."

"Loki, you can't… you have a purpose in this life-"

"Ah yes, my _purpose. _You know, I've spent my whole life thinking I had some glorious purpose." He didn't look up, arms crossed over his chest like he was hugging himself. "The possibility of being the king of Asgard, of ruling Midgard… I kept being told I had this _glorious purpose_."

Thor frowned and took a step forward, but he wasn't sure what to say. "Loki, you do have purpose, maybe you are looking for it in the wrong places."

"You mean in being a leader?" The words had no heat to them, Loki just couldn't scrape up enough will to make them. "What is my purpose Thor?"

Thor stepped several steps forward into Loki's space, reaching out just short of touching him, "May I brother?"

It took him a second to realize what he was asking but he pursed his lips and nodded, doing his best not to look irritated when Thor pulled him into a hug. His disdain was quickly forgotten, however, with the familiarity in the embrace. He tucked in close to Thor, giving in for a moment and taking the comfort.

It didn't sway him from his question though, and when it became too much and he knew if he stayed there much longer he would embarrass himself by crying he pulled away. "Admit it Thor, there has never been a purpose for me." He took a small step away from Thor, intentionally putting distance, "The most attention I've had from anyone, and it's the people looking to kill me. Everything I have ever done has only ended with me being beat down… what kind of fate is that?"

Helplessly he held out his hands, trying to think of something he could say that would comfort him, that would convince him that there was more to him than what he had done. That his potential was untapped because he had only ever strived for things he wouldn't achieve. His brother was smart and a good sorcerer, but leading wasn't him. Loki finally let out a sigh and turned away, "See, you love me more than anyone and even you can't argue the direction of my fate."

"It brought you here."

"To Midgard? Led into… _forced _into… powerless and broken? You think _that _is what my fate was intended to be?" His mouth twisted and his voice was bitter, "Perhaps the universe did think I needed to be punished."

Thor was shaking his head, trying to break into his rant. "No, to Stark. To the Avengers. Perhaps fate thought that you had the wrong allies." He looked down, he didn't like what he was going to say but it was the truth, "You would not have come here, worked with these mortals by choice."

"Tony." His voice softened at the name, glancing behind Thor at the door to the room, looking almost wistful.

Thor jumped on that, "Do you wish you had not had this time to … bond with Stark?"

"Bond." He snorted at that, but quickly covered the amusement. "Yes, I'm glad that I have… _bonded_ with Stark."

He put so much into that one word that Thor couldn't help wrinkling his nose, but he had brought that on himself, and at least Loki wasn't still lamenting about his fate. At least his eyes had stopped following the vial in Thor's hand. "Please Loki, I hate to see you so unhappy."

"My fate-"

"Mother told us we make our own fate."

He had nothing to say to that, so he said what neither of them had been willing to say out loud, "The Chitauri will not rest until they find me and when they do, I will be lucky to be put to death. I will be looking at…" He looked down, swallowing hard, "I've been at their mercy once before Thor, you cannot let me fall into their hands. A quick death is more merciful." He looked up to meet his eyes, let him see how serious he was, and Thor finally nodded.

"If you are captured and beyond rescue-"

"No, the moment I fall into their hands. Promise me Thor."

He couldn't imagine killing his brother but the truth was plain on his face, without the promise Loki would find some way to do it himself. He couldn't watch him all the time and he could clearly see that Loki meant every word he said. If he said a quick death was more merciful… then so be it. He tilted his head down in acknowledgement of the request. "I promise, if you are taken, I will make certain they do not take you alive."

Relief flooded Loki's face and he glanced towards the door again, his voice regretful, "You cannot tell them, they would do everything to stop you." He shook out of the somber mood, some of the weight lifted off his shoulders by the promise, "I need to go, Tony is waiting for me." Even though it went against his better judgment he stepped forward to grace Thor with a quick embrace, pulling away just as quick, calling out just before he disappeared through the door. "Thank you, Brother."

"No," He knew he was only talking to himself, that Loki was long gone, but he couldn't help himself, "No brother, for this… do not thank me for this."

* * *

Loki slipped quietly into the room, hoping to slip into bed without Tony noticing anything. He had just started to pull back the covers when Tony reached out to grab his arm, letting him tumble into bed and quickly rolled over him. "And where have you been?"

Loki fidgeted, and Tony waited until Loki was sure he didn't feel trapped, until he relaxed under him before pushing it any further, settling between his legs and made a face. "You're dressed."

"I had something to do."

Tony laughed at that, oblivious to how condescending it sounded, "Oh, and what do you have to do?"

Loki thought about pushing him away, about getting upset about that, but his talk with Thor had left him tired, drained. Instead he slid arms around Tony's neck and nuzzled against him. "I had to talk to Thor. I'm back now."

"Good." Tony tugged at Loki's clothes and he gave in, pulling them off, and there was a tense moment but it passed quickly as Tony only pulled him to lay his head on his chest. He stroked his hair, "Everything good with big bro?"

He nodded, trusting that Tony would feel it. "Yes, everything is fine."

"Good." Tony gave him a playful tap on the nose, "Nap. It's custom after an orgasm."

Loki obediently nodded and settled one hand on Tony's chest but he couldn't get rid of the feeling of guilt of not telling Tony the whole truth. He laid there for a long time trying to decide if he should explain to him, try to make him understand, and finally he looked up planning to tell him everything. When he looked up though, Tony was already fast asleep, and Loki sighed. It was probably for the best anyways. He let himself relax against Tony and closed his eyes, and even though he felt safer than he had in a very long time, still sleep wouldn't come.

* * *

**Author's Note: ** Okay, hell of a delay which I feel just awful about… but hopefully back on track!


	14. Chapter 14

Destiny. He was destined but for what seemed hazy. Loki crouched down in the corner of a cell, never left alone with a Chitauri guard watching him close and part of him knew he was dreaming, but not enough to let him escape it.

Footsteps rang out down the hall and he could feel himself flinch, the only time he saw anyone besides the guard it always brought pain, and he reacted to it like a trained dog. It had been weeks… or at least he thought it had been weeks, and they had asked no questions, asked for no information about Asgard or his family. They had done little more than torture him and he had no idea why. It was frightening in a way he couldn't explain, because if they wanted nothing from him he had no way to make them stop.

"How is the prisoner today?"

The guards didn't answer, they never did and Loki tried to push himself further into the corner. The thing looked like it was considering him, "Why do you hide Loki? I only have come to talk."

He was still bruised, bleeding from the last talk and his magic seemed to not work in this realm, his godhood useless. He was vulnerable, worn down until he was afraid.

The thing pulled a chair up to his cage and it was so different from what usually happened Loki found himself uncurling from his tight protective hunch to look. He was strong, he could endure the torture even if he was starting to crumble, but what would always be his undoing was his curiosity.

When it was clear that he was listening the thing nodded. "I think it's time… I think it's time for me to explain what your purpose here is Loki. Would you like to hear?" It leaned forward and its claws glinted in the light and Loki had a hard time looking away from them but he swallowed hard and nodded. "Well then Loki, do come closer."

* * *

Loki was thrashing in his sleep, whimpering, and it was enough to wake Tony up. It took him a minute, sleepily looking around, trying to remember where he was when his eyes landed on Loki. He was grimacing in his sleep, and Tony reached out to run his fingers across his face, trying to soothe him.

It only made Loki cry out though, twisting away, hands coming up to protect himself. He grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back down, shaking him a bit to try to wake him up. His voice was a little gruff, still half asleep, "Hey, Loke, you're dreaming. Come on, wake up."

Loki's entire body tensed up suddenly and his eyes flew open, but they were empty and scared and he was scrambling away from Tony until he reached the edge of the bed and tumbled out of it, landing hard on the floor. His adrenalin was spiked and he whipped his head around anxiously, trying to understand what was going on.

Tony stayed where he was, hands up in a placating manner, not wanting to make him panic more. He made an effort to lower his voice, soften it, "Loki?"

Green eyes snapped around to stare at Tony and slowly, painfully slow, the confusion faded to recognition. Once that set in he realized that he was sitting on the floor and he felt foolish. He slid his eyes to the ground and made no attempt to get up.

"Loki, talk to me. Bad dream?" Stubbornly he didn't answer and Tony worked at staying calm, "Are you okay at least?"

There was a long moment of silence and finally Tony sighed and started to slide out of bed and without conscious thought Loki sprang into action, scrambling to his feet and backing away. They both froze and desperately Loki tried to explain himself, try to put into words what was wrong. After the dream, after his memories, in that moment it was too close and he didn't want to be touched.

"Loki?"

"I need to go."

A few steps towards the door and he glanced at Tony, half expecting him to stop him, a little disappointed when he didn't. It didn't matter though, he felt like his skin was too tight, painful and even though he felt something for Tony he couldn't even explain he just wanted to be away. He felt irrational but blindly sprinted through the halls of the mansion, until he spilled into the empty living room, chest heaving with panic. He had been so worried about Paul, he had forgotten all about the Chitauri.

He dropped onto the couch but felt too vulnerable, unprotected, so he slid to the floor until he was wedged between the wall and the couch. It was just too much, he didn't know what he was thinking trying to start something with Stark, not when he felt like he had been broken and patched back up too many times to count. His talk with his brother was fresh in his mind, and it was painfully obvious to him how this would all end.

The tears pushed hard and he struggled to hold them back, tucking his head into the crook of his arm. He startled as he heard footsteps enter the room, freezing and hoping he could hide. "Loki?"

"Tony?" It was unexpected and he couldn't help answering. Tony hadn't followed him any of the times he had stormed off, he didn't know what was different about this time. He leaned a little to the side and looked at him. Tony obviously had dressed quickly, blue flannel pants and a red t-shirt on, and he looked a little groggy.

"What are you doing?" Tony stepped forward and reached out to turn on the light, and Loki had a clear view of his face falling when his eyes landed on him. "Loki, come here." When he didn't move he trudged forward, trying to keep his voice light. "Come on reindeer games, it's okay."

The nickname made the corner of his mouth turn up and he stared at the hand Tony held out for a while before he reached out to take it, letting Tony pull him to his feet. "You came to get me?"

"Of course I did, you woke up screaming and took off. What happened?" He used his thumb to wipe away the tears, "Did you… was it about Paul?"

He shook his head, and wanted to leave it at that, but knew that Tony was waiting for an answer. "The Chitauri." Tony started to wrap his arms around him but he struggled, pulling back, "No, I can't…" Only a dream but he could remember their hands on him, could remember the screaming and being wrapped in anyone's arms seemed like too much. Tony's face showed he was clearly unhappy about that but he did ease back, though he didn't let go of his arm.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know." He wanted to appease him, and moved closer until they were pressed together and he if took even breaths he was able to handle it. "It's not… it's not you. They…" Words ran through his mind and he desperately wanted to explain to Tony, make him understand, because the thought of Tony at the Chitauri's hands made him shake. Or Steve… or his brother.

A different kind of panic gripped him and all at once he felt something fall into place. "We were supposed to meet the others… to talk about… about _them."_

Tony was already shaking his head though, "No, you're this upset about a dream… I don't think it's best for you, maybe in a few weeks."

"We don't… we don't have a few weeks. You need to know what they can do. You all need to know." He straightened though he leaned a little heavier on Tony. "They… they are going to come after me and you'll need to know."

"Okay."

Tony started pulling him out of the room and he let himself be maneuvered, "Where are we going?"

"I need to get dressed and then we will go meet the others. Clint has been texting me for an hour anyways."

* * *

The entered the kitchen with Loki holding Tony's hand in a death grip and it didn't help that those gathered looked fairly aggravated. Tony ignored them, settling Loki onto a stool before going to get a cup of coffee.

"Nice of you to show up."

Tony threw him a rude gesture that made Steve roll his eyes. Thor was just behind him though, eyes on Loki, lips pressed together in thin line. He ignored the others, "Loki, how are you?"

He didn't know if it was their talk that had him so worried, or how distressed he was sure he looked now but he only looked down, "I am fine brother."

The casual use of the word, the lock of hostility in his voice was actually enough to distract everyone from what they were doing and they stopped to look at the two demi gods. Thor nodded, "I am glad to hear that… brother." He said it almost hesitantly, not sure if it would be received well but Loki didn't react at all.

Clint rubbed the back of his neck, and it must be something about the way he looked, because even he looked hesitant to question Loki. "I filled them in the best I could, I tried… I just don't know what else you know that I don't."

Loki hesitated for a moment but slid off the stool to go sit at the table with them, pausing to meet Tony's eyes for support, and slid into a seat. "Thank you." Because he knew that Clint had done it to spare him what he could and that was more than he deserved from the other after everything he did. He didn't say anything else though, not sure where to start, but was saved by Steve.

"If you can… you don't need to talk about what happened to you… maybe if you start with what you know about their forces? How many ships they have, what kind of weapons, anything about their commander? Can you do that?"

Steve's voice was soothing, so calm and reasonable and Loki found himself nodding. He could do that, he went over the images he remembered, seeing the ships, the formations and he didn't feel the panic that usually gripped him. Without looking up he started to recite everything that he knew, vaguely aware of Steve scrambling for a piece of paper.

His voice was flat, without feeling, and as long as he stayed on the details it was easy to do. An arm slid around his shoulders and he leaned into it, almost uncaring of who it was and with almost startling clarity he realized that meant he trusted everyone in the room. Trust… trust was a new concept for him. A shift of his weight told him it was Tony and he sought out his hand under the table. He could do this, he could do it for them.

* * *

Once Loki started talking he hadn't been able to stop. He told them about the Chitauri armies, what orders and plans he had overheard, and once he was so far in he couldn't back out the told them what had happened to him. His voice wobbled when he talked about his treatment at their hands, and he was oblivious to the horror on their faces. Tony tucked him in closer, hold tightening until it was suffocating, but he didn't stop him.

The words eventually ran out and they had all sat in silence for what seemed like forever until they had scattered through the house. Clint and Natasha had said they had SHIELD work to do, but mostly they looked like they had needed to get away. Steve and Thor headed off to talk about the information they had gathered, and Loki was sure that being the warriors they were they desperately needed to _do_ something. Finally just Loki and Tony were left.

"Loki… I didn't…" He ran a hand over his face, "I thought what Paul did was bad, but this…"

"Paul was worse." His voice was quiet, not trying to be combative but sure. He shifted his weight, "I was a solider… what the Chitauri did, I will die before I'm at their mercy again but I was a prisoner. I … understood it. I gave in but… I didn't break Tony, not at that."

"You aren't broken."

He shrugged it off, they both knew the truth. He chose a safer topic, "Will you go after them? You are… outclassed."

Tony snorted at that, some of the tension easing out of the room. "I'm all kinds of classy." It only earned him a halfhearted smile and he let it go. "We've got a lot of fire power. We have a hulk."

"I remember." He shook his head though, "You can't defeat them. Their leader…" He shuddered, but didn't bother to keep up his side of the argument. He already knew that they wouldn't let it be and since that meant they would be protecting him he would take it. He noticed that Tony had slowly moved away until there was a good amount of space separating him and he tilted his head, "Tony?"

"I think we need to uh… talk." He made a face, "I'm not really good at this," he swayed a bit side to side, pressing his lips together, "I think we should just take it easy."

"Take it easy?" Still shaken by the information he had provided he struggled to understand. "Take what easy?"

"You know… this?" He motioned between them and when Loki looked up and met his eyes he could see the guilt there. That was a look he was familiar with.

"Tony, please-"

"I don't know what I was thinking, you are… you are messed up 6 ways from Sunday, Loki. I… I mean I'm still here for you but I don't think we should-"

"You don't want me?" A sharp shock of betrayal moved through his body, making him clench his fists and rock to his feet. He told Tony everything and now it was being used against him. He knew he had been battered, beaten, but it hurt to hear that it would change Tony's mind, make him not want him.

"No, don't start that." Tony moved closer, and reached out to pull him forward, "That isn't what I'm saying." He made a face, "I think Steve is right."

He was confused for a moment as tried to think through what he had said, though it didn't take long. He knew he was frowning, "You aren't taking advantage of me."

Tony shrugged and his voice was a little condescending, "I think that most people that are don't realize it Loke. I'm not saying… we just back off a little, yea?"

"No." He yanked his hand back, "No."

"Loki-"

"_No._" He was frustrated and surprised himself by reaching out and giving Tony a startling shove. "Stop telling me what to do!" His voice cracked and he eased back even as he said it, face open and scared.

Tony was torn, pulled somewhere between annoyance at the outburst and humor. If he was honest it was kind of nice to see the spark, for a moment he had seen the same flash of green that he had last seen before he was thrown out a window. It made it easier not to take offense, "I'm not telling you what to do." Something occurred to him and he tilted his head, "Okay, I've been telling you what to do a little but I don't think you mind." That made Loki flush but he didn't protest.

The closest Tony had come to having this much of a stake in anyone was with pepper and that had gone less than stellar. He still cared about her and she was easily his best friend but she would be the first to say how inept he was. He cleared his throat and tried to be honest, "Listen, I'm not really good at this." Loki smirked at that a little but Tony only waved a finger at him. "I'm trying to be honest." Looking like it pained him he waved a hand, "I don't want to hurt you okay?"

"You won't hurt me Tony."

"I'm pretty sure I already am Loki, when I got back from being tortured-"

"I'm not you!"

It stopped the conversation and Loki took the initiative to push to his feet. "I'm not… I was a God Tony and now you think I'm too weak to say no to you? That I'm that far gone?" It took him too long to answer and hurt flashed across Loki's face. His words came out clipped, cold, "Fine. I'll leave you alone then."

He barely had turned to leave when Tony grabbed his arm and spun him to face him. "I don't want you leave me alone Loke." He kissed him suddenly, nothing gentle about it, and didn't pull away until they were both panting. "I want you."

Loki raised an eyebrow, "You have me."

He still felt unsure, Steve's words bouncing around in his head but will power… he had never had very much success resisting temptation and the body pressed tight against his was fairly irresistible temptation.

"Fine, but…" He pushed the hair out of his face, "Trust me when I say you're… vulnerable. Don't push yourself." He held a little tighter and met his eyes, "Like it or not I won't let you push yourself, so don't fight me."

The words unsettled Loki, the authority in them making his hackles rise, but he pushed it down and only gave a docile nod. "Of course."

Tony couldn't fight back a smile as he pressed his face against Loki's throat, "Even after what happened to you I don't believe for a minute that you will keep giving in, but I'll take what I can get."

He finally pushed back with a sigh, pulling them from the wall and slipping an arm around his shoulder. "Come on, enough of this, I think we are in need of some alone time and maybe… just maybe a drink."

"Shouldn't we be helping them?" He motioned in the direction the others had gone.

"Nah, let them get it. They love that stuff. I think I owe you a proper dinner."

* * *

With the information Loki supplied Banner and Thor started working on gathering intel, making sure to stay under SHIELD's radar. Eventually it became clear that some of the information needed to make it farther, and Thor left Earth to bring what he knew to Asgard while Bruce continued to analyze the remains of the machine that had held the tesseract.

Loki hinted more than a few times that he was willing to help with the tesseract research but Bruce didn't seem interested and Tony's patience never lasted long enough for him to stay and participate. Being alone with Banner wasn't something he was really up for either.

It was frustrating though, he knew more about what they were tinkering with than they ever would but he was dismissed like a child. It didn't help that Thor being gone put him on edge, not that he would admit it. He had been reassured that they still couldn't _see_ him in Asgard and for the time being it was probably the safest to maintain that secrecy. Of course he feared the Chitauri would return while his brother was gone and no one would fulfill the promise.

He shook himself out of it when Steve fell on to the couch next to him, jostling him a bit. "Whatcha doing Loke?"

Tony was gone for the day, apparently having to at some point see to business needs, and Loki hadn't been invited. He made a face at Steve's use of the nickname and slowly, deliberately shifted his weight away from him. "Nothing."

He respected the distance between them but nodded, "You look like someone that needs something to do."

Intrigued he tilted his head, he was tired of having no purpose. The last few weeks he'd done little more than follow Tony around, pathetically dependent. "What did you have in mind?" The words could have been suggestive but Steve rarely brought out fear in him.

"How about a spar? I won't use my full strength of course, but I'm bored with hitting the bag."

"You want to fight?" It was so far from what he was starting to think of as usual, everyone treating him like he might break that he immediately perked up.

Steve took it the wrong way, always anxious to make sure he wasn't upsetting someone, "Sorry, I just thought… I know you're a little skittish but-"

"No!" He blushed at his over eager response. "I… it has been awhile since I… sparred." The word felt awkward on his tongue, but he attributed it to the memories he had of doing such thing on Asgard and the last thing he needed now was a reminder of how utterly inept he was as a Warrior. He shook it off as another thought occurred to him, "Tony won't like it."

Steve only chuckled and pushed to his feet, "Tony isn't here and you could use a little time to blow off some steam." Loki still hesitated but Steve only held out his hand, "Come on, he keeps you squirreled away in here, must be driving you crazy."

His shoulders were starting to ease and he reached out for his hand when a shrill sound suddenly filled the room. Steve jumped and Loki let out an embarrassing yelp. "What?" A second or so and Steve realized what it was, clumsily searching for the phone, finally pulling it out of his pocket. He opened it, "Hello?" He cringed when it still rang. He shook it, "Hello?"

Slowly Loki reached out and pressed the call button, Steve giving him a sheepish grin and a nod of thanks before turning his attention back to the phone. "Hello?"

It didn't take long before the casualness slid off his face and he looked worried. His gaze slid to Loki's face a few times before turning his body away, "Okay. Yes. We'll be right there." There was an almost guilty glance shot at him and Loki's suspicious sky rocketed.

"Stark isn't here, he… Okay. Yes, sir." He closed the phone and when he looked back at Loki he was chewing his lip. "I have to go."

"What happened?"

"I can't… we'll be back soon."

"Is it about Tony?"

"No." He stopped, "Listen just… stay here and we'll be back in no time." He rolled his shoulders, uncomfortable with Loki's eyes on him. "Jarvis, can you let everyone know we're needed at SHIELD immediately?"

"Everyone?" His voice rose to a squeak, so much progress but he felt sick at the thought of being completely alone in the mansion.

"We'll be back soon Loki, I promise. I know Tony said not to leave you alone but you'll still have Jarvis and I'll see about getting Ms. Potts over."

"Steve." He didn't stop the plea in the words but he only shook his head.

"Duty calls. I'll make sure Tony calls you as soon as he can."

He knew him well enough to know when Steve was dead set on something there was no changing his mind and this was no different. He took a few steps after him but finally fell back into the living room, unsure about what to do.

Intelligent as he was he couldn't help but the twinge of unease, there hadn't been any calls for the Avengers in weeks, and for something to come in the one day that Tony wasn't home with him, it struck him as… odd.

There was no use in worrying about it though, he knew all too well that nothing he did would have any effect and he finally slunk to Tony's room to sulk. Idly he flipped the TV on, turning it to the news like Tony showed him. If it was something big enough for everyone there should be something, but he only found himself staring at the weather. He dropped back on to the bed with a sigh, settling in to wait.

* * *

Loki must have dozed off because he sat up abruptly, not really remembering falling asleep. The light coming in through the window told him at least a few hours had passed and Tony should be home with him by now.

"Jarvis, where is everyone?" He waited nervously, waited longer than Jarvis had ever taken to answer and tried again, uneasily sliding off the bed to his feet, "Jarvis?"

When there was still no answer he moved more cautiously, this wasn't just paranoia, if Jarvis wasn't answering there was something wrong. Unsure of where to go he headed towards the common rooms, hoping to find someone there. He was almost to the kitchen when he heard the sound of the fridge opening and suddenly felt silly.

He peeked around the corner and could see someone rummaging around in the fridge and forced himself to relax, something must simply be wrong with Jarvis.

Tentatively he leaned against the wall, "Tony?"

The fridge door shut and Loki was scrambling backwards before he even registered who was in front of him.

The man grinned, "Not even close."


	15. Chapter 15

"Miss me sweetheart?"

Loki stumbled back, letting out a yelp when his back collided with a wall. He knew he was looking at Paul but his mind couldn't comprehend it, he didn't understand how he had found him… even in his state of panic he realized that there was no way Paul had the ability to take out Jarvis. "I… how…?"

Paul casually shut the fridge, beer in his hand, and leaned against it. "I really couldn't believe that you would run off on me, I could have sworn I beat that out of you."

Despite that he wasn't in Paul's place, that he had been away for weeks, he felt the familiar panic that he was being disobedient and cringed. "I'm sorry-"

Paul took a sip of the beer, "So after your little friends visited me I… I managed to put two and two together and realize just why you looked so familiar." He set the beer down and stalked purposely forward, "All this time if only I'd know that I was fucking Loki himself, I'm going to make a fortune with those movies now."

At that he finally snapped himself out of it and turned to run, only to run into something hard, metallic, and he hit the floor hard. For a brief moment he thought he was saved, that Tony had arrived in his iron man suit, but it was short lived. The metal mask was too iconic for him to not know who it was and it felt like a physical blow. He felt someone behind him and looked up, nothing to do but cringe on the floor at Paul's proximity. He knelt down, "You seem to think I'm dumb but I realized that the information that you were … human might be valuable to the right people."

Paul grabbed his arm and jerked him painfully to his feet, holding him upright against his body and turned towards the other man, sneer in place. "I'm sure you've met Victor von Doom."

It was hard to tell what he was thinking without being able to see his face but his voice was clearly intrigued, "Loki, finally we meet." He too stepped forward even as Paul possessively pulled Loki against his body. It didn't make him stop and he moved until Loki was sandwiched between them and he could feel Paul's body tense behind him, "You will be useful."

Loki found himself dragged backwards as Paul attempted to put distance between them. "Hey, he's mine, don't forget that."

"Yes, you said."

Loki realized a moment sooner than Paul what Victor was going to do and closed his eyes, his hands half coming up in defense. It wasn't a particularly strong response but he didn't have time to dwell on it as the arms holding him went slack and there was the sound of someone hitting the floor. When he opened his eyes they were drawn to the body on the floor but his survival instincts kicked in, even if a bit late, and he turned all his attention to Doom. His voice shook, "What do you want?"

"I want you to come with me Loki." The metal mask tilted to the side, an odd look of imploring, "I do not have to drag you along, do I? You will come with me one way or another but there is no reason we can't be civilized."

Loki nervously licked his lips, glancing around the room. No Jarvis, no Tony and he had heard stories about Victor. It wasn't often he came up against another sorcerer and even at full strength it would have been a battle so he tilted his head down, and nodded silently. Victor reached out and took his arm by the elbow and Loki had little choice but to follow him.

* * *

Tony was aggravated by the time they got back to the mansion. He had practically been dragged out of a top level meeting for Stark Industries by Shield on the premise of dire circumstances. What they had found was… less than that. With the amount of panic he had assumed the Chitauri were making their move, and he had gone prepared for battle, only to find some Doombots causing some minor trouble. Okay, maybe a massive amount of property damage, but nothing he thought needed the red flag flown up.

On top of that he had been attempting to contact Jarvis, he wanted to check on Loki, but the comms were down. A small part of his mind was screaming that he should be worried, that everything was a little too… coincidental, but in an attempt to stay calm until he got home he pushed the thought away.

It took him a moment to get the door open, Steve giving him a smug look as he tried to get the key figured out, unused to it and clumsy with his suit on, and he wondered if Steve realized that it meant something was very wrong that the electrical locks weren't working. He pushed the door open and felt his stomach drop when his fears were concerned. Comms weren't down, Jarvis was down, and there were too many backups in place for it to just be a power hiccup.

"Jarvis?"

Something in his voice alerted Steve because the humor left his face in an instant and he could see him bring his shield up. "Tony?" He glanced around, "Tony, what is going on?"

"I'm not sure Spangles." He raised his voice, "Loki?" When there was no answer he glanced back at Steve, "Call the others, get them here. I have a bad feeling about this. Something isn't right."

Steve nodded and Tony vaguely heard him making a call as he headed into the house, cautiously looking around. He checked his room and Loki's first, and then headed towards the kitchen. Maybe Loki had gotten hungry and tried to make himself something to eat. At the doorway he froze, and set his mask to go up to get a better look. At first he didn't recognize the body, he only knew that it wasn't Loki. He moved forward and nudged them with his foot, and made a sound when he recognized him.

Tony found Steve still by the front entrance, talking in urgent tones and he brushed past him heading out the door. It took Steve a second but he followed him, "Tony?"

"Jarvis is disabled. Loki's gone. Paul is in the kitchen."

"What?" He reached out to grab at his arm, trying to stop him, "Paul? Like… Paul that had Loki? He's here?"

"Yup."

Steve was starting to look concerned, "He's… should I call it in? Did you … "

"Call someone to pick him up, he's unconscious. And I have an idea of who did it."

When Steve fell behind he didn't stop, sure that the other would catch up. He had seen someone electrocuted like that before, and now the attack of the doom bots made sense. As far as distractions go it was fairly effective and if he was right, if he was right then Loki was in a world of trouble.

* * *

"Sit."

Loki wasn't told he could take off the blind fold but he did, glancing around until he saw a couch and warily sat down. At the moment he had complete faith that Tony would rescue him, but he didn't want to do anything to aggravate his keeper in the meantime. Nervously he shifted his weight as the silence lengthened. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. "Where are we?"

He shook his head and his voice came out condescending like he was speaking to a child. "That isn't important Loki. What is important… I wish to hear what you know about the Avengers, yes?"

"No." He waited for a Victor to try to force an answer, to do anything but he acted like he hadn't even heard the no.

"Would you like a drink?" It caught him off guard and even though he shook his head the other was pouring some kind of amber liquid into a glass cup and handed it to him. He rested his hand on his lap, not sure what else to do with it, but not willing to drink it. "It's top shelf. I promise it's not poisoned, if I wanted to hurt you, I would."

A chill went down his spine at the blatant threat, even worse when it was said so off handedly. He seemed to be waiting so he finally lifted the glass and took a sip, repressing a grimace at the taste. He didn't miss the civility of Victor and it was actually reassuring and he realized he wanted to keep it that way. He lifted the glass a little to indicate what he was talking about, "Thank you."

He slid into a seat across from him and he leaned forward and pressed his hands against the glass top of the table, pressing into Loki's space. "Now, you will tell me what I want to know."

* * *

It took a while for Tony to realize that just traveling around the city looking for a sign on Victor was pointless, and he really needed to get Jarvis back online. Most of his suit was useless without the computer, and Steve's reasoning finally brought him back to reality and they headed back to the mansion.

He kicked the door open in anger when he got there and only then did he realize he had no idea what happened to Paul. At the time he hadn't thought about it but now he realized Paul must have led someone here to get Loki. To get _his_ Loki and he wasn't happy. "Where is he?"

"Take it easy Tony, Clint and Natasha brought him in to Shield-"

"To Shield?" He knew the panic made it through his voice, they were supposed to be keeping Loki safe from Shield.

He shrugged, "Cat is out of the bag now. Clint and Natasha insisted we bring him in now that Victor is involved. Natasha assured me that it would be fine."

"I want to see him, now."

"Okay-"

"I don't give a damn about…" He trailed off as he realized that he had agreed. "Okay?"

The look of determination on Steve's face he was familiar with and it helped calm him down a little, Steve nodded. "I want him back too Tony." He waved the keys in front of his face, "So let's go get some answers."

That sounded… good. He nodded and they were off.

* * *

Tony watched from the other side of the glass at Paul sitting in the room, and it was obvious that there had already been some questioning of … some sort going on. A small tingle of pleasure went up his spine at the already badly bruised and swelled face. "Who had a go at him?"

"I did." Clint leaned against the wall. "He said he went to Victor when he realized who Loki was. I'm guessing he thought he would help him and expect nothing in return."

Tony tapped his fingers against the glass, thinking. "Was he… did he know where Victor is?" He barely paid attention to the words though, watching through the glass as Paul shifted his weight tugging at the cuffs. He wanted a shot at him.

"No. He said he didn't know but…"

"Good. Then I think I'll ask him." He was looking forward to seeing the fear on his face, the pain, and maybe if he had a chance he would try to get some information.

He entered the room and slammed the door close behind him, startling Paul. He meticulously moved to the table and laid one hand on it and shook his head, "You should have stayed away. I warned you."

Paul's eyes widened as Tony's fist flew. His head snapped to the side and he could feel the blood running down the side of his mouth. He met Tony's eyes and could see the fury there, the purpose and struggled to answer. "I don't know where he is, I didn't meet him at his freaking house!" His voice went high pitched and squeaky, obviously frightened. "I swear I don't know."

Tony glanced down at his knuckles, and wiped the blood off them with his other hand. "You know, I think I believe you." The relief on Paul's face was short lived, when a fist snapped his face to the side again, and he cried out. Tony's voice was soft, "You better hope that he is okay because if he's not… if he's not then what I'm about to do won't even compare."

* * *

Across town Loki cried out in very much the same way, sprawled on the ground, holding an injured arm tight against his chest and trying to wipe the blood away on his face with his other hand, "Please-"

A metal fist knocked him back to the ground, voice still so calm. "You will tell me everything you know Loki, and if I was you I would do it before I get more… creative."

Frantically Loki looked for a way out, anything to help him, but unable to find any salvation he did the only thing he could, cringe, try to block the next blow and hope that Tony would find him soon.

* * *

Eh… it feels a bit choppy to me. Not sure how I feel about this…


	16. Chapter 16

The silence in the room stretched out as Tony stared at Fury, neither of them willing to back down, though Tony was weakening. Normally… normally he would have had the stamina to continue the stare down for hours but he was at a disadvantage, nearly frantic with Loki missing and itching to find him. It didn't help that even though they tried to contact Thor he appeared to not be hearing them, or unable to return, either way he wasn't here to help.

He finally let out a put upon sigh and slouched in his chair, trying to sound nonchalant, "He isn't dangerous."

"That isn't for you to decide." His voice clearly showed that he knew he had won, "Even you can't be arrogant enough to think it was okay to be harboring a fugitive, especially one wanted across different galaxies."

"We had it under control."

"Obviously." He glanced at some papers on his desk, "Barton briefed me on the basics, he said that Loki is human-"

"Exactly, so he's harmless."

"Then we can stick him in prison and he can pay for his crimes."

Honestly, that hadn't occurred to him and he struggled to push back the anger he wanted to respond with, not wanting to give away exactly how much Loki meant to him. "If you read the report you can see he already has paid-"

"And this has nothing to do with the report saying that you appear to be… fraternizing with the hostile?"

Instead of making him nervous, embarrassed, it being out in the open actually put him more in his element. His voice steadied and he was calm, "Who told you?"

"So it is true. You have done some questionable things in the past, but this is just a whole new level of irresponsible."

"Who?"

"Rogers."

He would have been angry with Barton, but he knew Steve couldn't help himself. He shook his head, "It doesn't matter. I'm not the only one that hid him." He shifted his weight impatiently, "We should be out looking for him."

"Stark, I don't think you realize the seriousness of-"

He shoved to his feet, "He's in danger, who knows what that psycho is doing to him and you're wasting my time with a scolding?"

They were back to silence and Tony made an impatient sound and went for the door, done dealing with him. A calm voice stopped him, "We're collecting intel, last know whereabouts, the whole routine. You need to take a breath and calm down Stark."

He let out a few heavy breaths, listening to the sound of himself breathing, and recognized it as too quick, too panicked. He wasn't acting like Iron Man, and that is what he needed to be now. He made an effort to slow his breathing, and took his seat, Fury raising an eyebrow curiously. It wasn't like the other to actually listen. He was surprised again when Tony met his eyes, and there was no antagonism there. "What do you need me to do?"

* * *

"This is not going as I had planned Loki."

Loki did his best to hold himself upright, pressed back into the corner of his room, his cell, but it took effort. He tried to answer but had to spit out a mouthful of blood first, and even he was surprised by the sarcasm in his words, "Really, this is exactly what I planned."

At his response Doom only turned and headed to the door, though he stopped at it, turning that mask to look at Loki, "Perhaps you need a different motivation." There was a moment where Loki held his breath, not really ready to take another physical blow but the other only turned and left, the door shutting firmly with the ominous sound of a lock sliding into place.

He let out the breath he was holding in a quick burst, wrapping his arms around his body and letting himself slump just a little. There were probably cameras in the room but he couldn't keep it up forever, and he would have to settle for just holding it together when Doom was actually in the room. Not that he was even certain where the strength was coming from. When Doom had started his … questioning… he had been sure that he would give and crack until there was nothing left of him but he hadn't.

Doom had wanted information, not about him, but about the Avengers. Information that would hurt them, could get them killed, and a part of him had just had enough and refused to give in. Whether or not it would hold up he didn't know, but for the time being he was sure that he would rather die than be the reason Tony was killed. For the first time as far back as he could remember he felt like he did finally have a purpose, and strengthened his resolve to keep resisting Doom's attempts to break him.

* * *

Tony had planned to take the edge off by having another chat with Paul, and was disgruntled to find him removed from the interrogation room. He tried to find his cell but the computer and guards were less than helpful and by the time he realized that nobody seemed to know where he was the sirens were already going off.

Tony could only think of one person that could have managed to get in and out that quickly, and take their prisoner. In a burst of panic he raced towards the cars, surely they couldn't be too off and he could follow them. He ran down the hallway, only vaguely aware of Steve at his shoulder trying to tell him something. He was scrambling for his keys when Steve grabbed his arm and forced him to stop.

"Tony!"

"We gotta get out there, he's probably still close, we can follow him."

"Tony, we need to let them go-"

"We have to try something, he couldn't have gotten that far."

"Tony, listen."

He was startled by Natasha at his shoulder, even more confused by the grin on her face, taking offense to her lack of urgency. "He is the only link we have – we need to move!"

"I know, that is why Clint and I implanted a transmitter while he was in custody. He seemed like a loose end that Doom would wish to tie up, yes?"

It took a moment for the meaning to get through to his brain and he realized what it meant, "He'll lead us straight to Loki."

She nodded, looking much too pleased with herself, but he would take it because that precaution had been brilliant. He tried to give her a grin back, tried to force his confidence, but he knew it was shaky, "I'll get me suit and then we go. We leave in 5." There was a general agreement and he took off at a dead sprint, they had him now.

* * *

Loki wasn't sure what had woken him up, but he blinked blearily into the darkness, disoriented by no view of the outside, unsure if it was morning or night. The worry he felt at not knowing was quickly shoved to the back of his mind when the lock made a loud clunk as it was undone and the door pushed open. The light was sudden and bright and he couldn't help flinching away, precious moments spent trying to focus with the change in light.

He hoped it was the sudden change that was making him see the person in front of him, but as the seconds passed by and his view didn't change at all his hope was all but drained away. He couldn't help himself, voice small and fearful, "Paul."

Doom was quickly visible over his shoulder and now that they were closer Loki could clearly see the shape Paul was in and he knew without a doubt that the bruises have been put there by Tony and he crossed his arms. Doom gave the man a sharp push, and his voice was harsh. "There, get me my information."

Even though is body language said that he was clearly wary of Doom, his eyes lit up with a single-minded anger when they landed on Loki. He stalked forward, "Do you like what you're staring at, it's your boyfriends work. I'm gonna make you regret ever walking away from me."

"This is about gathering information, not a petty vendetta."

Paul's face twitched just below his eye at that and his next words were snarled at Doom, though he was careful to keep his distance, and it was obvious who the boss was. "I'll get your information. You obviously couldn't get it your way, so why don't you back off and let me do what I need to do." Loki could clearly see Paul's hands clench at his sides and he knew the other was afraid. It threw off his world view for a moment, that the man who had broken him, used him, could be so afraid of someone else, but none of that mattered when Doom waved a hand at him to continue and he turned back to Loki.

"I hope he didn't ruin all the training I put into you."

Paul made it a few more steps towards him when Doom added, "We need him alive and functioning."

He waved his hand dismissively at him, "Yea, yea, I get it." He smirked at Loki, though it faltered a little when Loki didn't cringe back from him, when Loki's eyes stayed on Doom at the door. "Hey!" He did startle at that and turned his attention to Paul, his stomach tightening at the look on his face. He had seen that look every time he had tried to run, until the urge had been beaten out of him.

"Please-"

"I love it when you beg." He stalked forward, Doom finally leaving them too it, and didn't hesitate to grab Loki by the hair and pull him roughly forward, jerking his head back. "Did you already forget your manners?"

"Let me go."

He only laughed and tugged on his hair harder, "Someone has been spoiling you, haven't they? I will do whatever I want." He pressed them steadily backwards until Loki's back hit the wall, "So is that why you left me? To go play pet for a billionaire?"

"I'm no one's pet!" He struggled but a quick slap to his face stilled him and he whimpered, "No, please."

"Where did all the anger go Tucker?" The name slipped out, and he wasn't sure what to make of the look on his face and something flashed in his eyes, "Loki." He slid both hands into Loki's hair almost gently, before he used it to slam his head against the wall hard enough to make him dizzy. "Nobody makes me look like a fool."

He eased off a little, letting Loki go but stayed in his space. He tried to stall and whimpered out, "You… you wanted information…"

"Sure, I guess. Later. Right now I want to fuck you, you do belong to me and it's been too long." While he spoke one hand went down to the button on his jeans, attempting to get them undone.

It was those words that made something snap into clarity and where he had been docilely cowering against the wall he abruptly straightened, trying to push Paul away from him. He belonged to _Tony_, not this man and he would not simply give in. Paul was clearly surprised by the resistance and he tried to use it to his advantage, pulling further away to give him room and then throwing a punch.

He did know how to fight, he may have not done well in the gladiator rings but that didn't mean he didn't know _how_. "I don't belong to you."

He expected anger, but it somehow scared him more when it only made Paul grin, "Does the filly need to be broken again? It will be my pleasure to do so."

Loki edged along the wall to the door, taking precious moments to glance at it, but quickly turned his attention back to Paul. To the biggest threat in the room. "I won't give you any information."

Paul nodded like he knew that and very purposely rolled up his sleeves. "Oh Tucker, I was counting on that."

* * *

Tony had been prepared to bust in, guns firing, and kill everything in sight and it was only Natasha's hand on his shoulder that was keeping him waiting. They were outside a rather plain looking building and were waiting for Clint to come back from scouting it. It wasn't Doom's style, plain and run down, but it was where the tracker had led them.

The only reason he could imagine that Doom had taken Paul was to use against Loki, and the thought of that scumbag touching his Loki made him angry enough to give Bruce a run for his money.

"Relax Tony, Clint will be back soon. We don't want to go in blind." Steve was trying to help but his voice only grated on him and he shifted his weight.

Next to him Natasha was nodding, "We won't be able to help him if we are all dead."

To get his mind off waiting he snarked out his other complaint, "Where the hell is his brother, he is in real danger and Thor is off frolicking the realms?"

No one had an answer for that, big brother's absence the last few days while Loki was missing was odd, and no one wanted to voice that something might have happened to him. It only made him angrier and he was just about to call it and head in when there was a thunk on the roof of the car. He cringed, "Why the car?"

Clint hit the ground next to them, his face serious. "They are in there. I spotted a few doombots." Before Tony could talk he shook his head, " Couldn't tell at all where Loki might be, or Doom. It doesn't look overly secure though, more like something he threw together last minute."

"So do we go in now or wait for Banner and Thor?"

Tony weighed the options as he watched the front door of the building and finally sighed. They had sent a message to Bruce, unsure if they would need the hulk, and he should be there soon. "We wait for Bruce, I don't think big brother will be here anytime soon."

"Tony, it would be best if we wait until we can scout more, see if they follow a schedule for guards that we can exploit-"

"When Banner gets here." His voice brooked no disagreement and Natasha relented, everyone settling back to wait.

* * *

**Author's Note... So... two chapters after this, already written and ready for upload as soon as I read them over and edit them, sometime tomorrow. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: ** So, funny story. This chapter was done and ready to post on Thursday but when I went to post it… I was horribly unhappy with it. In the original version Doom has no more interactions with Loki and that just seemed like such a waste. So yes, it was a bit more delayed but it came out much better. After this chapter just one more chapter and one short epilogue.

* * *

Doom wasn't often amused, but watching the cameras he couldn't help but find some humor in it. Based on the man's description he had been sure he would have the information from Loki in no time, but instead he'd watched the two of them move around the room for the last half an hour, brawling and scrapping like children. Clearly this man could not do what he said he could, and they were running out of time. He was sure that soon the Avengers would locate him, and he had to make sure he was long gone by then.

It looked like it had finally reached some kind of conclusion, Loki appeared to be pinned to the ground and looked frantic, now was the perfect time to intervene.

* * *

For a long time there were no smart comments, not insults, as both men tried to catch their breath. Paul's nose was bleeding and there was a long scratch down his cheek but he had Loki pinned down on his stomach, blood pooling by his mouth. Paul pressed one knee harshly into his back, pinning one arm there, and used the other to wipe the blood of his face.

The smugness was gone, and Loki couldn't help let out a pained sound when he pulled his arm up higher. "Never seen you fight like that before." He leaned close, hot breath on the back of Loki's neck, "I like it." He shifted his weight and pressed very obvious proof of that against Loki's ass. "I don't know what this guy wants in the long run, but I'll make sure he gets it as long as I get to keep you."

He tugged on Loki's pants, trying to pull them down without giving up his hold, Loki's struggle stopping abruptly when his arm was nearly pulled out of the socket and he relented, his protests dissolving into pained whimpers. He waited until he regained a little more strength, encouraged by Paul still struggling with his pants and tried to push up to his hands and knees, to push him off. Instantly Paul moved and suddenly the pressure on his chest was too much and he couldn't breathe and it only took a moment for him to realize that Paul was doing it on purpose. He tried to outlast him, but he couldn't and soon he was struggling for breath, trying to figure out what Paul wanted. His vision was starting to go spotty and he realized that Paul was waiting for him to submit. He was scared, too much adrenalin, but it was a lesson he had been forced to learn. He let his body go limp, not struggling, not fighting and the weight moved off his chest.

He gasped in a painful breath, though with most of Paul's weight on him it was still a struggle to breathe, but when he did catch his breath he snarled out, "You're as good as dead!"

Paul ignored that though, making a small sound of triumph when he finally was able to get Loki's pants over his hips, leaving his ass bare against the rough denim of the other's jeans. "I'm going to make so much money, do you have any idea how much someone will pay to fuck the god that almost destroyed the city?"

"You do not get to keep him."

Loki would never have thought that he would be happy to hear the voice of the man that had spent the better part of the last few days doing his best to beat him senseless, but all he knew was that it meant Paul's attention was off of him. It didn't' seem to sway him much though, Paul obviously had turned to face Doom but he still pressed one knee between Loki's, forcing them apart. "He's mine."

Staring at the floor, waiting for his fate to be decided, abruptly he realized that even though he was physically at a disadvantage, that… that had never been where his strength lied, his words have always been his greatest defense. With a burst of energy he struggled to press away from the ground, giving him enough room to turn his head to see Doom, and before Paul could silence him he managed, "Kill him. Kill him and I'll give you the information you want."

"What?" Paul barely had time to comprehend what Loki was saying before the fear flashed on his face and he was on his feet, though Loki wasn't sure what he planned on doing. Doom didn't say anything, didn't agree, but there was suddenly an arc of electricity and Paul wasn't moving.

Shock made Loki slow but finally he realized he was still sprawled half naked across the floor and he scrambled to pull his clothes on. Doom watched him, not even sparing a glance for what he assumed was Paul's body. He was stalling for time, his plan had made sense at the time but he still had no intention of giving up any valuable information and it was unnerving how easily he had killed the other man.

"That was cleverer. I had heard that about you, I was beginning to think that I had been misinformed." Something about the way he talked made Loki think that the other was only playing with him, like he had been bored and was looking for something to occupy his time. "I had planned to kill him anyways, so do not think I am that naïve, he proved he could not get me information." Doom tilted his head, and appeared to be eyeing Loki as he added, "I did not think much of his technique either."

He felt sore, too many beatings in a short period of time, but he tiredly pushed himself into an upright position against the wall. "I don't have any information for you."

"Pity. I was sure that we would have a few shared interests, it will be a shame to waste your talent as a sorcerer when all you need to do is tell me about these Avengers you have been staying with."

Loki only shook his head, the longer he held out the stronger his determination was, and he wouldn't fall back now.

Though the other couldn't see it Doom was pleased with the response, he had never been a fan of those who simper, and he was finding Loki more and more interesting, his fascination moving beyond the Avengers, which had only been passing at best. He was at a bit of an impasse, he would prefer not to kill the other man, but he had to make his decision soon. Time was running short before a rescue party would arrive.

Even as the thought crossed his mind his personal alarms beeped at him, and he realized that he had run out of time. He gave the man on the floor a sharp nod, "So be it. I do look forward to crossing paths again in the future, until then."

He left a puzzled looking Loki still sitting on the floor and headed straight for his quarters to gather what he would need. He glanced at the surveillance camera in the room and already he could see the Iron Man busting through his defenses and though it aggravated him he knew that the game was over. He hadn't really planned on much, just an easy way to pick up some information, though he would regret leaving behind the former god. He found him intriguing, and he did not know many other sorcerers. There hadn't even been time to question him about it. He glanced again at the camera, something like regret, but he knew it wasn't the last time he would see the other. Once something intrigued him, someone, he rarely let it go.

He took a last moment to send a decoy doombot and then he was gone.

* * *

It was a relief when Tony could finally attack, finally _do _something and he took great pleasure in taking down wall after wall until Steve pointed out that they may be jeopardizing the stability of the building. There was a surprising lack of defenses, proof that the lair had only been temporary. Though he did get to use his weapons a few times and it was with immense joy that he watched the robots explode.

Natasha and Clint had taken off in another direction, leaving him and Steve to clear this side of the building, though honestly he was more breaking stuff while Steve checked the rooms. They came around the corner and he was surprised by Doom standing there, going on the defensive.

Steve moved quicker, his shield already up to deflect a shot at them, and it didn't take long for them to realize it wasn't the real Doom. When he was hit there was a sparking and to his side he saw Steve step back, confused. He nudged him forward and Steve moved, though he kept an eye on the destroyed robot and under other circumstances the sheer suspicion on his face would have been amusing. At this rate he was never going to get Steve to trust machines.

The fake Doombot actually made something ease in his chest, he had talked to Sue, the most helpful of the Fantastic Four – not to mention the only one that he could stand- since they dealt with Doom before. She had mentioned that a decoy bot usually meant he was making his escape, something to keep them busy while he ran. It didn't necessarily mean that Loki was safe, but he was sure that there hadn't been enough time for any permanent damage to be done.

"Tony – over here!"

He realized he had been caught up in worry and not paying attention, a dangerous move when he was in the situation he was. "Did you find him?"

"Locked door, first I've seen."

Tony came up to it, but his scanners couldn't read anything. "Stand back." Steve didn't have to be told twice and Tony yelled as best he could through the door, "Loki, if you are in here, back away from the door!" He waited a moment, the chances of the other man hearing him if he was in there were slim, but he wanted to at least try to give him time to get out of the way. He blasted the door open, and he saw Steve's hands come up to cover his ears, the sound reverberating through the hallway. He anxiously busted in to the room, only to find it empty.

He only had a moment to be disappointed when his comm kicked in, Clint's voice clearly excited, "Tony, we got him. He's… well he's alive, east side of the building."

Captain Spangles was nearly shoved out of the way as Tony took off in that direction, he couldn't get there fast enough. It took a few wrong turns, and he was sure that Steve was trying to give him directions or help or both, but he finally spilled into a hallway to see Natasha. He already had his mask up and he didn't need to ask where he was, as she just pointed in the room.

He wasn't sure what he expected to find but while Loki crouched in the corner wasn't much of surprise, Paul's… body was, as was the image of Clint crouched down on the floor a few feet in front of Loki, apparently talking softly too him. Clint glanced at him, "Good, I can't get near him. I tried to help him up and he took a swing at me."

"Loki." His voice was so relieved, so happy, that Loki couldn't help relaxing.

"Tony." He hadn't moved though so Tony stepped forward, though he was hindered by the suit. "You came back."

"Of course we did." He had expected the other to move, but he still stayed huddled and Tony couldn't help but glanced at Paul's body, hoping that something hadn't happened. "Loki are you… are you okay?" His face was pretty bruised up and he looked like he was in pain but that wasn't what he meant and he tried again, "Did he…"

"No." Loki glanced around but finally realized he couldn't stay where he was forever, couldn't hide and he pushed to his feet. He struggled, still feeling weak, and surprised even himself by letting Clint grab his arm to steady him. A thought occurred to him and he felt foolish he hadn't already thought about it. "Doom?"

"Gone."

He was nodding, not surprised, and for a few moments it was like everything was alright. Until it wasn't. It hit him all at once, the fear he had been trying to push back, the pain and he nearly flung himself at Tony, not at all put off when it meant he connected hard with the suit or that the arms that came up around him were cold and robotic. It was Tony in there and he needed him. He didn't realize he was crying until Tony went to wipe away the tears, only to realize he couldn't with the suit. He looked over Loki to Clint, "Let's get out of here, I need to get out of this suit." He tugged Loki along, "Let's go home."


	18. Chapter 18

There were hours and hours of questioning, SHIELD relentless, but Tony stayed by Loki's side the whole time. He held him close, got defensive when those questioning got too aggressive and provided the answers he could. They also asked questions about Thor, and besides upsetting Loki that nobody seemed to know where his brother was, they couldn't provide any information.

Loki sighed and leaned heavily against Tony's side. "He just wanted information on the Avengers, I didn't give him any. He brought in the other man to try to help him, and when he couldn't get any answers he killed him." He had told Tony, between tears and begging not to be turned over to SHIELD that he had asked Doom to kill Paul. None of the Avengers had seemed particularly upset by that, and nobody had suggested that they tell SHIELD.

"Why didn't you give him the information?"

"It would have hurt Tony. I didn't… I didn't want to do that."

Tony had enough, "Okay, okay. He's answered all your questions, over and over and I'm bored. We're going home."

"Sir, Director Fury said-"

"He can take whatever he said and shove it up his ass. Let him know if he has anything to say to me he can do it himself at the tower. We're done."

They didn't try to stop them and Loki was surprised that they let him just walk out of headquarters with Loki in tow. They were alone in the car, and it was the first time they had been alone since the rescue and Loki felt awkward.

"If you feel bad about having him kill-"

"I don't."

"Good." And Tony really meant it. Without looking he reached out to touch Loki's face and it was easier to say the next part when he wasn't looking at him, "I… I was worried. I'm glad you're okay, when you were gone… when I thought about Paul touching you… I needed to find you."

"I'm not Paul's. He said I was but I'm not… I'm yours."

"Yes." Tony was relieved that Loki seemed to get what he was saying, that he didn't push him to explain more, and he answered in turn. "You're mine."

He didn't see him move but suddenly Loki's body was pressed along his as close as he could get in the car and one hand was on his thigh. Loki leaned in close and his voice sounded more confident than it had since Tony found him on the street, "When we get home show me. Show me I'm yours."

His leg twitched, a certain part of him taking a sudden interest, but he tried to reason with him, he was in no state to be asking for sex. "Loki."

"No, no more deciding for me. I'm not asking, I'm telling you." Tony worked to hide his grin at Loki's tough words, he didn't want to discourage him.

"Anything you say."

"That's more like it." He didn't care that Tony was clearly laughing at him, because when one hand slid over Tony's pants, gently but insistently rubbing, the smile slid off his face and when he glanced sideways at Loki the look promised that he would show him what he asked for and more. It sent shivers up his back in a good way and he was surprised that none of the fear was there. Funny that getting kidnapped and tortured had been what gave him his confidence back because he hadn't broken, he had picked something to stand by and he had done just that.

"You keep that up and we're not going to make it home."

Maybe not quite as sure as he thought, the idea of Tony and him in the car enough to make him blush and he eased back a little, putting some space between them. He couldn't help adding, voice low, "Hurry." Tony didn't need to be told twice, and the car flew down the highway.

* * *

Loki had a vague impression of Steve when they had come through the door, possibly trying to ask something, but he was ignored as Tony pulled him into a kiss. He did see Tony strike out in that direction and a surprised sound from Steve, but he had other things to worry about. Tony wrapped his hands in Loki's hair to hold him in place, as the stumbled through the halls. Later Loki would be embarrassed by the blatant display, but right now he only had eyes for Tony.

They were at his bedroom so fast he was almost sure it wasn't Tony's room, but when the door opened he recognized it and Tony was pushing him firmly towards the bed. He tumbled back on it when Tony pushed him down. Tony stood tall by the side of the bed, face already flushed and breathing heavy but Loki wasn't afraid. He was feeling…something very different and he made a small sound, hips pressing up in silent invitation.

Tony didn't have to be invited twice and he was on top of him, wrapping his hands in thick black hair, and oh did he ever love that. He gave him a little tug to tilt his head to the side, giving him better access, and Loki couldn't help but moan. It had felt like the last few weeks had been foreplay of sorts, and he was desperate now. His time with Paul had made him feel broken, but Paul was dead now. Dead maybe not by his hand but by his will, and that meant something.

He struggled to grab onto Tony's shirt and when he finally released him from the kiss he gasped out, "Tony please!"

However it made Tony jerk back, eyes going to examine Loki's face, "Did I hurt you?"

Frustrated he reached out to try to pull him close again, "No, I'm fine, Tony."'

There was still hesitation there though, caution pushing back the arousal on Tony's face and that was the last thing he wanted. He tugged on his shirt until Tony gave in and sprawled down onto the bed next to him. It was easy to roll on top, though his purpose for a moment was distracted as he took time to grind against him, Tony's hands settling on his hips.

"I know what I want."

"I'm just trying to-"

He lowered himself until he was nose to nose with Tony and his voice was a challenge, "I decide my fate."

There was more to the words, and when Tony realized exactly what he was saying he grinned, tightening his grip on Loki and rolling them over so the other man was tucked under him. "Okay." He pulled at Loki's shirt, slipping it over his head and followed it with his own.

Next his hand went to Loki's pants, pleased when he could feel him hard, before moving to unbutton them. He almost asked Loki if he was okay with it, but the point had been made loud and clear and no one would ever accuse him of having to be told to shut up and have sex more than once.

After he pulled off Loki's pants, leaving him naked, he just looked for a minute until Loki became nervous, shifting his weight and Tony snapped out of it. He nudged him, pushing Loki back on the bed and took the opportunity to strip off his own clothes.

Loki easily spread his legs, letting Tony settle on top of him, wiggling enticingly when they rubbed against each other. Loki was just as responsive as he had been before, nearly coming up off the bed when Tony touched him. It made him smirk and he stroked Loki harder making his eyes close.

"That's it, I'll make you feel good." His own body responded in kind, again that thrill at knowing he had a god for all intents and purposes naked in his bed, moaning and begging for him.

Without being told Loki bent one knee, giving Tony more room, and he took a moment to reach into the bed side table to get his hands on the lube he knew was there. Even though he had intended to go slow, careful, Loki was already on the edge and he wasn't much farther behind him. "Relax okay, I won't hurt you but you gotta let me know if it's too much."

Words were beyond him at the moment so he only nodded, letting his body tell Tony that he trusted him. When Tony's fingers slipped inside him he blindly reached out for Tony, and was rewarded with lips back on his, kissing him while he was stretched out.

Tony was panting too when they pulled away, and Loki couldn't help the grin that pulled over his mouth, thrilled to be driving the other man so crazy. That grin almost did Tony in and he had to take a moment to not embarrass himself. Once he had it under control he returned the grin, and in that action he realized how similar they were, and he didn't think he could be more turned on, and yet, he was.

He pressed Loki's knee out and positioned himself, meeting Loki's eyes before slowly pressing inside him. There appeared to be a brief moment of panic at the pain, but he trusted Loki to know what he could handle and he didn't tell him to stop so he kept going until he was pressed fully against him.

Normally he would have given it more time, more time to enjoy it, more time for Loki to adjust but it had been a long day and all he wanted to do was mark the other man as his. He rocked his hips, quickly setting up a fast pace, encouraged when it made Loki whimper and try to wrap his legs around him.

"Tony, please, touch me, please."

There was no way he could deny that plea, one hand wrapping around Loki's cock and setting a matching pace. "Loki-"

He was shaking his head, "Can't last, please."

The words were barely out of his mouth when Loki's whole body tensed and he cried out, cumming hard, his body clenching around Tony. That was all it took to push Tony over and he wasn't far behind, a few more thrusts before he collapsed over him, breathing hard into his neck.

"Wow."

Loki wasn't even able to respond, chuckling against Tony where his face was pressed against him, shifting until he could wrap himself around him, no plans of moving. During his interrogations he had spent more time than he would have liked clingy to Tony and crying, and honestly, this was such a better way to be comforted.

At some point Tony rolled to the side so he could gather Loki against him without crushing him, and they both drifted into a well-deserved sleep.

* * *

Steve indignantly climbed to his feet, brushing off imaginary dirt to cover his embarrassment from getting knocked on his ass by Tony. All he had tried to do was ask him a question, ask Loki how he was doing, but all he had got was an uncalled for shove. He turned to Natasha, looking for sympathy, "Where are they going?"

Clint chuckled, even though he didn't take his eyes off of his food in the microwave, "With the way they were latched on to each other's face… I'll give you one guess."

The flush grew deeper and he huffily crossed his arms over his chest. "That isn't… we don't know where Thor is, Doom is still out there, they haven't even briefed us yet on what SHIELD wanted."

There was the sound of a door opening and a sound that was definitely moaning from the direction they went and Natasha raised an eyebrow, "If you want to _interrupt_ them, then go ahead. I assure you that you will not like the answer you get."

"Or whose naked ass you see."

"Fine." He dropped to the table, almost petulant, "But it's still not professional." He glanced the way they had gone again, but was quickly distracted as a pizza was waved under his nose.

"Come on, have some food, relax and leave them to it, the world will still need saving tomorrow."

Her reasoning, while true, was unnecessary as Steve and Clint were already completely focused on eating pizza. For today the world was safe, it was pizza time, and the rest would wait until tomorrow.


	19. Chapter 19

It was a quiet evening in the tower, everyone settling down after dinner, when there was very suddenly, and loudly, a crash somewhere in the mansion. It was sadly becoming almost routine and he didn't need Jarvis to tell him that Thor had arrived.

They moved to their feet, a little wary, and just to be safe Tony firmly pushed Loki back so he was partially hidden, and ignored his glare. They waited… and waited but finally the big blonde horse (which Tony had picked up calling him, and he entirely had Loki to blame for that) came through the door, looking much too excited, "My friends!"

The tone was so loud, so happy that Tony couldn't help being aggravated. "Thor, not that we aren't glad to see you but you're a little late to the party." Tony rubbed the back of his head, wincing, and did his best to look annoyed. Another door demolished. "Where have you been?" Eleven days since Loki had come back to the mansion safe, and it had been harder and harder to dissuade Loki from worrying about Thor, about wondering where he was.

Thor's eyes scanned the room, relieved when they landed on Loki unharmed, but then they turned back to Tony. "I do apologize for my absence, it was… unavoidable."

Loki didn't entirely like that, how quickly he was dismissed. It wasn't as if Thor had missed dinner, he had refused to come back as Loki was tortured. He moved forward to Tony's side, "I was in danger." It hadn't been was he had planned to say, he hadn't meant to sound so needy, though his embarrassment was eased when it caused Tony to shift his body, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him in closer. He tried again, "What was so important that you couldn't come save me. Again."

Thor's face softened and he stepped forward, and before Loki could stop him he was pulled him out of Tony's embrace, his face shoved against Thor's massive chest and hugged tight enough that he couldn't breathe. He let it go on for a few moments before trying to push away, a little lightheaded. Thor let him go all at once and he stumbled, but his brother was there to catch him, a fond smile on his lips. "I forget that you are human now." The amusement slid off and he looked serious, though he again looked over Loki to Tony, "It was for his safety that I could not return."

Tony noticed the pattern too and tilted his head towards Loki, "Tell him, not me." Though he wanted to know what was going on, wanted to control the conversation the grateful look he got from Loki was fairly rare and more than worth it. Thor nodded and dropped his hands on to Loki's shoulders, voice lower, and everyone moved in closer to hear. "Brother, when I arrived back on Asgard the Chitauri were there, they were demanding you as their prisoner."

He backpedalled away from Thor, breathing speeding up in something close to a panic attack, but Tony was there to pull him close and calm him. His voice came out in a squeak, "The Chitauri?"

"Odin told them that he had stripped you of your powers and banished you." He had been looking at his hands but looked up to meet Loki's eyes, "He told them he did not know where you had been sent to and that we had no information about where you are now. They were very agitated and threatened war. Still he did not tell them that he sent you to Earth."

It meant more than the words and Loki could feel a lump in his throat that he struggled to ignore, "He'd risk an attack on Asgard to protect me?"

"He did risk an attack to protect you. He was able to convince them that we did not have any idea where you were, I could not leave because it would have given away your location, so I was forced to stay in Asgard to defend it if need be and to protect you."

It was Clint that finally stepped in, "So does that mean they can't find him either?"

"Yes, father believes that they were able to track and find Loki based on his magical signature and when he took away his magic they were no longer able to see him."

For a moment, a brief moment there was a sharp shock of joy, that meant that the Chitauri had no idea where he was, had very little chance of tracking him down, but it only took a few moments for it to sink it what it really meant. Tony apparently understood too because he reached out, and spoke quickly, "It's okay Loki."

He needed to hear it though, and he knew that his voice begged Thor to tell him different, "So I can't ever had my magic again, they will be able to find me?"

"I believe so brother. Your attack on Earth attracted a lot of attention, and not just from the Chitauri. Father… father implied that until the Chitauri threat could be understood and removed it would be for the best if you remained… where you were."

Natasha made a small sound of acknowledgment. "He knows where he is."

"I believe so. When I returned … I told our mother Loki's whereabouts. I believe I was not as discrete as I thought and he … overheard."

Clint let out a whistle, "Fairly big risk to take."

Loki was already shaking his head, "He truly believes that Odin will not harm me, or wish harm to come to me."

"I believe that because it is true."

It was obviously an old fight but after a moment both brothers seem to let it go and Thor nodded. "So Loki is to stay here on Earth, as he is, until the Chitauri can be dealt with." He tilted his head imploringly, "Stark, I wish to stay in the tower if that is not a problem."

"You're staying here too?"

"Of course brother."

It was almost a heartwarming moment and of all the people to ruin it, Tony would never have expected it to be Steve. His voice as hesitant, but concerned. "So I hate to bring this up but… if it wasn't the Chitauri that were hiding him from being seen from Asgard… who was it?"

It didn't need to be said but into the following silence Tony added the other question that everyone was thinking, he his voice heavy with apprehension, "And are they an enemy or friend?"

* * *

Morgan Le Fay wasn't surprised that Doom had sought out Loki, he was, or at least had been a powerful sorcerer and he called to others that wielded magic. She did find it mildly interesting that he had somehow ended up with Earth's warriors, but at least they would increase the chances he would survive. It had been easy to hide him from Asgard, and Heimdall had been more than willing to turn a blind eye to the trickster god's suffering on Earth. She had plans for Loki and they didn't work if he was dead. Powerless he was of no interest to her but someday he would do magic again and then… and then he just might be useful.

* * *

**Author's Note – **That's all that there is, there is no more! Hope you guys enjoyed it!


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